ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's track and field team posted a 101-80 victory over rival Army in the annual Indoor Star Meet, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, on Saturday afternoon at Wesley A. Brown Field House.
The Midshipmen won 10 of the 17 events in America's Meet, earning maximum points in seven events on the day.
With the win, the Navy men's team improves to 34-27-2 all-time against Army, including a 22-9-2 mark in Annapolis. The Mids have now won three consecutive indoor Star Meets and eight of the last 10 indoor star competitions.
Army jumped out to an early lead after one event as the visitors claimed the top two spots in the weight throw with Jamir Gibson of the Black Knights setting a meet record with a distance of 21.20m (69-06.00).
Navy responded by sweeping the long jump to even the score at 11-11. Caden Dailey won the event with a distance of 7.14m (23-05.25), while Aidan Featherby took second with a jump of 7.10m (23-03.50) to finish just ahead of teammate Nahshon Houston who registered a distance of 7.09m (23-03.25).
The first running event of the afternoon saw Alex Rizzo break his own facility record in the 1-mile run to win the event with a time of 4:00.84. Teammate David Nelson finished third with a time of 4:03.50 to help Navy to a 7-4 win in the event.
Brahmir Vick and Baynes Autrey claimed first and third in the 60m hurdle to push the Mids' advantage to 25-19. Vick won the event with a time of 7.97, while Autrey clocked a performance of 8.19 for third.
Trailing around the final turn, freshman Jacques Guillaume rallied in the final straightaway to claim the 400m dash with a time of 47.85 to win the event. The Black Knights claimed the 500m, but second- (1:04.27) and third-place (1:04.47) finishes by Ryan Harris (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Jonathan Simmons kept the Mids ahead by six points.
The 60m dash saw Army finish 1-2 to close the gap to 39-38 through seven scored events. However, Navy answered with a 1-2 finish in the 800m and 1,000m runs to push the advantage 55-44. Ashwin Briggs won the 800m with a time of 1:52.86, while teammate Ian Bartlett (Fairfield, Conn.) was second with a time of 1:53.36. Greyson Gravitt claimed the 1,000m run with a time of 2:25.80, while senior team captain Sean Casey (Vienna, Va.) took second with a time of 2:26.50.
Walker Rudisaile (Marion, Texas) and Jack Haller finished 1-2 in the pole vault, topping heights of 5.20m (17-00.75) and 5.10m (16-08.75), respectively.
Army claimed first and third in the shot put and 200m dash to close the margin to 10 points, 71-61, with five events remaining.
Navy swept the triple jump and went 1-2 in the 3,000m run to push the advantage to 87-67. Jordan Payne won the triple jump with a distance of 14.71m (48-03.25), while Sebasteon Allen came in second with a jump of 14.01m (45-11.75). In the 3,000m, Miguel Mathias clocked a winning time of 8:04.71, finishing ahead of teammate Sam Keeny who crossed the finish line with a time of 8:06.37.
The Midshipmen needed just four points heading into the final three events. In the 4x400m relay, Army won the race with a time of 3:14.27, but Navy scored three points for taking second. The Mids clinched the indoor Star with three points in the 4x800m relay, crossing the finish line with a time of 7:53.39 to take second.
Navy capped the meet with a sweep in the high jump to provide the final margin of 101-80. Cole Bailey (Yukon, Okla.) and Benjemen Schneider each registered heights of 2.04m (6-08.25) to claim maximum points in the event.
Navy track and field returns action on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 11-12 as the Midshipmen head to Lynchburg, Va. for the Darius Dixon Invitational hosted by Liberty University.
