Army West Point Black Knights Falls to Midshipmen

ANNAPOLIS, MD. – Army’s West Point women’s outdoor track and field team fell to Navy (111.5-88.5) in the annual Star meet, which is part of the Star Series by USAA, Saturday afternoon. The Black Knights claimed seven of the 19 events along with eight seconds.

Abigail Green captured the hammer throw and was second in the discus in the field events, and Morgan Chewning-Kulick and Georgia Jones led the team in the running events. Chewning-Kulick was first in the 1500-meter run along with placing fourth in the grueling 5000-meter run, and Jones won the 5000 and was second in the 1500.

Event Winners
800m: Anna Tovkach – 2:08.31
1500m: Morgan Chewning-Kulick – 4:38.85
5000m: Georgia Jones – 16:39.62
3000m Steeplechase: Helen Shearer – 10:33.67
Triple Jump: Bonvie Fosam – 12.47m
Discus: Emily Mikoud – 44.37m
Hammer: Abigail Green – 61.89m

Notable Performances
100m: Jazmine Alderman – 12.14, second place
800m: Shayla Bonzelet – 2:12.67, second place
1500m: Georgia Jones – 4:39.00, second place
400m hurdles: Hannah Blakey – 1:02.29, second place
High Jump: Nataleigh Cantu – 1.65m, third place
Long Jump: Brianna White – 5.66m, second place
Shot Put: Emily Mikoud – 14.60m, second place
Shot Put: Aysia Salas – 13.76m, third place
Discus: Abigail Green – 42.49m, second place
Javelin: Brooke Stratman – 46.60m, second place

Coach Mike Smith’s Thoughts
“A win today was a tall order from the start. We were short handed out there and the missed training time due to COVID pauses, which cost us quite a bit with the people we got to the meet. We had our fair share of successes including four meet records, and three school records but we just didn’t have enough depth to keep the meet close.

“Our throwers were decidedly better than the Navy athletes today. We expected to perform well and we did. The missed training time was apparent, but we did a nice job of competing nonetheless. Abigail Green put up a huge mark up in the hammer to start the day and that got us started. She has now set the school record in the hammer in three consecutive weekends. She added the meet record to her list of accomplishments today.

“Our cross country runners dominated the meet, including winning all four distance races and sweeping both the 800 and the 1500. I expected that group to perform well, but the marks we put up were better than at any time in the 34-year history of this meet. Helen Shearer entered her first steeplechase today and looked like a seasoned veteran out there. She was patient early and then took command of the race running unchallenged over the last 1000 meters. She fell down early in the race but scrambled right back up and sprinted to the front of the race. The steeplechase requires a degree of toughness that only certain kids have. Helen is vicious competitor and today’s race brought that out in her. Her time is both a school record and a meet record. It is also one of the best marks in the NCAA East region. She did a great job.

“Georgia Jones and Morgan Chewing-Kulick used a crushing last lap to break the race wide open and cruised to the line together. The win today was the first ever Army-Navy title for Morgan and it was great to see her have that victory. She has really grown a lot this year and has made herself into an alpha performer for us.

“Anna Tovkach won convincingly in the 800. Given her recent success in that event her time today was not all that special, but it was still the best 800m ever run in the Star meet. She now owns the meet record both indoors and outdoors. While I expected Anna to come home with the win, I was pleasantly surprised to see Shayla Bonzelet’s strong kick to finish second and complete the sweep. She is pretty talented and still learning the event. I think there is a lot more she can do in that race.

“Jones’ win in the 5000 capped off our strong day in the distance races today. She patiently ran behind the Navy runner the whole way and then used a devastating last 800 to our her away for good. Georgia has had quite a successful year thus far and today was start meet win number three for her and meet record number two. Three individual star meet titles is a nice career for many athletes, but Georgia is just a plebe. She is a rare talent and I am glad that she is in our team.

“We had some other wins out there today, but the top performance had to be Bonvie Fosam in the triple jump. She had a nice breakthrough last week and followed it up this week with a new meet record and a string series. She is getting close to putting the big jump out there. When she does out it out there I will not be surprised. We have a lot of work to do to reach our potential and if we can keep our consistency in training going, we will be ready at the conference championship and beyond.”