Navy’s track and field teams showcased their talent and dedication at two different meets on Saturday, the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Va., and the Navy Spring Invitational II at Ingram Field. Both meets did not have team scoring, but the Mids did record several impressive individual performances.
At the Virginia Challenge, junior Emily Boutin set a new program record in the 5,000m invite, placing fourth with a time of 16:21.41, which is 8.36 seconds faster than the previous record set in 2001 by Melissa Foon. Ellie Abraham recorded the eighth-best 3,000m steeplechase in Navy’s record book at 10:28.60 to place fifth, as well as placing seventh in the 800m with an ECAC qualifying time of 2:09.78.
Sam Keeny placed fifth in the 5,000m invitational with the eight-fastest time in school history at 13:59.90. Brett Brady finished in third place in the 3,000m steeplechase invite with a qualifying time of 8:54.82, while Ben Countiss also posted a qualifying time of 9:02.64 to place ninth. Murphy Smith (fourth place) and Alexander Kirkland (10th place) competed in the additional 5,000m event and posted IC4A qualifying times of 14:26.40 and 14:36.60, respectively.
Sophie Compton placed third in the additional women’s 5,000m race with a qualifying time of 17:05.62.
At the Navy Spring Invitational II, the Mids recorded four program top-10 times/marks, and Navy posted 42 times/marks that met IC4A/ECAC qualifying standards. Baynes Autrey ended with the third-most decathlon points in Navy history with 7,287, including victories in the long jump, pole vault, javelin, 400m, 110m hurdles, and 1,500m.
Annie Taylor posted the eight-best heptathlon score in school history with 4,825 points, while the women’s 4x100m relay team of Jia Anderson, Mayu Gayton, Molly Mangan, and Sabrina Sutter recorded their fifth top-10 time of the season. Jacques Guillaume won the 200m and 400m with qualifying times of 20.87 and 47.11, respectively.
Autumn Nicholas had the top performance in the field events for Navy, posting the third-farthest distance in school history in the hammer throw at 59.30m (194′ 6″) to finish in second place.
Navy’s head coach, Jamie Cook, praised the team’s efforts and the quality of the performances, stating that “It was a good day overall for the Mids. We had some outstanding individual performances and achieved a lot of IC4A/ECAC qualifying standards.”
Next up for Navy’s track and field teams is the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. The 127th edition of America’s oldest and largest track and field competition runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The Mids will look to build on their success and continue to showcase their talent and hard work on a national stage.