WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Navy women's track and field team recorded a 98-83 victory over Army on Saturday at Gillis Field House in the annual Army-Navy Indoor Star Series Meet, which is part of the overall Star Series presented by USAA. It was the first road win for the Mids in the series since 2013 and the first time Navy posted consecutive indoor victories since the Midshipmen recorded nine consecutive wins from 2006 to 2014.
The 98 points scored by Navy was the most since the Midshipmen posed a 104-77 win in 2014 in Annapolis. It was the most points scored in West Point since tallying 103.5 points in a victory in 2011. Navy won nine of the 17 events on the day, including earning max points in seven events.
"I honestly didn't know how it would go," Director of Navy Track and Field Jamie Cook said after the meet. "With us only having one meet against an opponent because we got a late start, it is very hard to have a good gauge. I think our team competed exceptionally well. I thought our coaching staff did a phenomenal job preparing our athletes.
"We did some good things on the women's side. Everybody stepped up, which is what we hoped would happen. We got some really good leadership from our captains and a good job preparing from our coaching staff. Sam Orie had a school record in the weight throw. Unbelievable job and leadership today. This win is based off the attitude and effort of our kids, and the phenomenal job of the coaching staff who put in a ton of extra time and extra thought into this meet."
Navy started off the day with a second-place finish by Lindsay Lewis in the long jump, posting a distance of 5.70m (18-08.50). The Midshipmen earned second place in the weight throw as Sam Orie recorded a school-record distance of 19.49m (63-11.50) in the event.
In the high jump, Hannah Lowenstein and Molly Chapman tied for first place in the high jump, both notching heights of 1.66m (5-05.25). Chapman followed her high jump performance with a second-place finish in the triple jump, registering the ninth best performance in Navy history with a distance of 11.93m (39-01.75). Evelyn Berecz posted a distance of 11.57m (37-11.50) in the triple jump to finish third.
The shot put saw Orie once again finish in second place, notching a distance of 14.40m (47-03.00), which is the third best in Navy history. After five events, the hosts held a slight 30-25 advantage.
The running events began with Maddie Warrender (4:57.75) and Emily Craig (4:58.78) finishing second and third, respectively, in the one-mile run.
Alexa Arthun and Katie Halbert finished 1-2 in the 60m hurdles, notching a couple of top-10 performances in program history. Arthun's time of 8.75 was the fifth best in Navy history, while Halbert's time of 8.77 was the eighth best.
Chloe Alfieri won the 400m dash with a time of 57.50, while Sarah Taylor came in third with a time of 58.72. In the 500m, Chelsey Edwards clocked a time of 1:17.09 to finish second in the event and closing the gap to 50-49.
Navy swept the pole vault to claim the lead, 57-53. Charlene Morke and Alayna Schloeder tied with a height of 3.91m (12-10.00), which is the ninth best performance in Navy history. Morke was awarded first place by the judges. Stephanie Jacobs came in third with a jump of 3.80m (12-05.50).
Molly Mangan and Shania Vincent added to Navy's lead, coming in first and second in the 60m dash. Mangan clocked the sixth fastest time in program history (7.61), while Vincent crossed the finish line with a time of 7.73.
In the 800m run, Eva Knowles (2:11.79) and Bronte Bacchetta (2:15.89) finished second and third to keep adding points to the Mids' total.
Navy swept the 1,000m run. Eleanor Abraham clocked a facility-record time of 2:53.79 to win the event, while Anna Kovacs (2:54.50) and Winter Boese (2:56.74) followed for second and third, respectively. Mangan clocked her own facility record in the 200m dash, winning the event with a time of 24.61. Sabrina Sutter finished the event in third place with a time of 25.29. Jessica Nangle's third-place performance (9:47.75) in the 3,000m run was the 10th best in program history and gave Navy an 88-77 advantage with just the relays remaining.
In the 4x400m relay, Edwards, Vincent, Alfieri, and Mangan combined for a time of 3:51.06 to win the event. Kovacs, Bacchetta, Abraham, and Knowles tallied a collective time of 9:16.86 to win the 4x800m relay, giving the Mids a 97-83 victory.
Navy returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 27, as the Midshipmen host the Patriot League Indoor Challenge at Wesley A. Brown Field House.
