Women's Track and Field Excels in Crowell Open

Saturday, December 5

West Point, NY

10 AM

Army West Point

Crowell Invitational

Women's Track and Field Excels in Crowell Open

December 05, 2015 | Women's Track and Field

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's track and field team had a strong showing at the season-opening Crowell Open at Gillis Field House on Saturday.

"I feel good about what happened today," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mike Smith. "I saw great competitive efforts, and today isn't about individual performances. It's about getting back into competition and seeing where we are physically from our fall training. I was really pleased to see where some of our people are, especially our plebes, it gives me a good feeling about where we are headed."

Five Black Knights etched their names in to the program's record book while four personal records were set as well.

The season's first event was the weight throw. Rebecca Cousens finished at the top of the field at 13.05 meters, three meters better than the second-place finisher. The Black Knights also captured the top-two spots in shot put as Briayah Brown won with a distance of 13.04 meters. She was followed by Cody Rothschild who shot 12.56 meters.

Army dominated the distance events, starting with senior captain Lindsay Gabow in the 5000-meter run. The Pelham, N.Y., native never trailed in the race and finished 5 laps ahead of the competition. She finished with a time of 17:45.85. The mile run was won by freshman Payton Padgett, who led the entire race and finished her first collegiate race on the track in 5:25.19.

Freshman Cassie Mundekis captured the top spot in the 1000 meter run. In her first collegiate race on the track, Mundekis forced her way into fifth of the program's all-time list with a time of 2:55.62.

Gabow continued her success with a 10:31.07 performance in the 3000 meter run. She finished nearly two minutes ahead of her opponent.

Meagan Hilla finished first in the high jump with a new personal-record of 1.70 meters, good enough to put her tied for fourth on the all-time list with Derin Kozlowski and McKenzie Majchrzak. Her previous mark was 1.65 meters which she jumped at the Upstate Challenge last season. In the long jump, Army help spots two through five with Cori Lemere finishing second with a distance of 5.37 meters. She set a new personal record, breaking her previous mark of 4.99 meters which was set at last year's dual meet versus Navy.

The pole vault was a strong point for Army as it placed in all five top-spots and placed two women inside the program's top-10 list. Megan Gemar finished first, reaching a height of 3.51 meters and is now sixth all-time. She was the only one who came into the meet with any experience as she was joined by four freshmen. Maddie Schneider came in second with a height of 3.41 meters and is ninth all-time, followed by Haley Steele (3.21 meters), Abby Vorhaus (3.06 meters) and Cece Givens (2.91 meters).

In the sprints, the Black Knights placed three runners in the top-five in the 400 meter dash and held the top-four spots in the 500 meter dash. Courtney Smith captured the title in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:00.77. She was followed by freshman Whidney Desormo in third at 1:04.79 and Samantha Snelson in fifth after crossing the finish line at 1:06.07.

Half of the Black Knights who competed in the 500 meter dash were doing so for the first time, but that did not hinder Haley Winters as she took first-place with a time of 1:19.93. She was followed by Jordan Johnson, who finished in 1:22.29, Genna Murray, with a time of 1:26.09, and Kelsey Pittman, who crossed the finish line at 1:29.05. Winters also took home first-place in the 200 meter dash.

Smith also claimed the top-spot in the 60 meter hurdles after finishing the sprint with a time of 9.39. She was directly followed by Hilla, who set her second personal record of the day. She finished second with a time of 9.44, eclipsing her previous time of 9.78 which she set at the 2015 Upstate Challenge.

In the 60 meter dash, Lemere was the top-finisher for the Black Knights as she crossed the finish line third at 8.11. Cadets filled the three through six places as fellow freshmen Ashley Pegues and Tya'tianna Johnson trailed Lemere, as well as Anna Motes. Pegues crossed the finish line at 8.29 while Johnson completed the event in 8.31 and Motes just behind her at 8.32.

Johnson topped the triple jumpers with a distance of 11.49 meters, edging her way on to the program's top-10 list.

Courtney Dooley topped the field of 10 in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:24.62. Freshman Mary Pollin cracked the top-five in the race with a time of 2:32.45.

The day ended with the relay races. Army withheld from the 4x800, but took the top-two spots in the 4x400. The team of Smith, Desormo, Mundekis and Winters took first with a time of 4:03.67 while Dooley, Snelson, Jordan Johnson and Murray finished second in 4:21.16.

The Black Knights will next compete at the Penn State Relays on Jan. 9, 2016 in State College, Pa.

For up-to-date information on Army women's track and field visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on Twitter.