Thompson, Mangan lead way as Navy sweeps Army in ‘Star’ meets
Clayton Thompson led the way on the men’s side, while Molly Mangan was the catalyst for the women as Navy swept archrival Army in the outdoor track and field “Star” meet on Saturday at Ingram Field in Annapolis.
Senior sprinter Austin Pierce was another hero on the men’s side as Navy nipped Army by a score of 103-100. The Midshipmen won nine of 19 events, earning the maximum points in five.
Several field event athletes posted impressive performances for the Navy women, which beat Army by a more decisive score of 111 ½ to 88 ½. The Mids won 12 events and achieved max points in seven.
Navy’s men have now beaten Army in nine straight outdoor track and field meets. Meanwhile, the women have captured the N Star in six consecutive outdoor seasons.
Navy director of track and field Jamie Cook said this year’s sweep was particularly satisfying because of the circumstances. Because of the restriction of movement order imposed by the Naval Academy leadership to combat a surge of positive COVID cases, athletics was paused for more than three weeks.
Navy outdoor track and field began training on
March 22 and basically had two weeks to prepare for its most important dual meet.
“To take 23 days off then try to prepare for such a big meet in essentially 12 days … we weren’t sure it would happen,” Cook said. “I am really impressed by our athletes and coaches. We have a very resilient group. We found a way and were very fortunate to have a good day.”
Because of coronavirus concerns and to limit the number of athletes competing at Ingram Field, the men’s and women’s meets were held separately.
That meant a dual meet that would normally last approximately four hours ran for almost eight hours. When all was said and done, an exhausted but jubilant Cook addressed the troops to offer hearty congratulations.
“Sometimes you need to take stock and acknowledge that was a really good job,” he said. “It’s important for the athletes to know how much we appreciate their efforts.”
Thompson took first place in the 110-meter hurdles, tying his own school record with a time of 13.98 seconds. The senior captain was second in the 400-meter hurdles, just getting nipped by Army’s Calvin Wetzel.
That result was understandable considering Thompson had to fill in for Caden Dailey in the long jump. Dailey, a Patriot League champion in the event, was unavailable for the meet.
Thompson had not so much as practiced the long jump in two months but dug deep to win the field event. It took six attempts before the Corpus Christi, Texas, native landed a jump of 23 feet, 1.25 inches. He won the event by a mere three centimeters.
“Clayton hasn’t gotten the volume of training necessary to participate in that many events. Six long jumps is a lot, so when it came time to run the 400 hurdles, he was a little bit shot,” Cook said. “Clayton sacrificed his individual goals for the betterment of the team.”
Pierce was on fire in the sprints, setting personal records in winning both the 100 (10.59) and 200 (21.31). The Georgia native overtook Army’s Ryan Hogan just before crossing the finish line and used a strong lean to win by a tenth of a second.
“I think the key person in the whole men’s meet was Austin Pearce,” Cook said. “He’s just been a worker all four years and had a really, really good day.”
Pole vaulter Thomas Johnstone put forth a notable performance on the men’s side. The senior from California won the field event at a height of 16 feet, 11 ½ inches. That was the ninth-best vault in program history.
Johnstone led a 1-2-3 sweep of the pole vault for Navy as Walker Rudisaile placed second and Jack Haller took third.
Sean Casey pulled out the victory in a very close 800-meter race with a time of 1:51.54. He narrowly nipped Army’s Luke Griner, who was right on his heels at 1:51.58.
Other individual winners for the Navy men were Eric Hughey (400 dash, 48.09), Julian Perez (3,000meter steeplechase, 9:10.50) and Eli Lake (high jump, 6-6 ¾). Runner-up results were posted by Miguel Mathias (5,000 run), Jordan Payne (triple jump), David Huizenga (discus) and Zachary Peterson (hammer).
“It was a very, very good team win on the men’s side. There were a lot of things we did well. We didn’t knock it out of the park, but we did what we needed to do to win,” Cook said.
“We were trying to be as strategic as we could to put people in position to score the most points possible. We pride ourselves on being able to compete and I thought the men competed very hard.”
After singing second during the post-meet playing of the respective alma maters, members of the Navy men’s team remained at Ingram Field to help the women’s team and cheer on their shipmates.
Mangan won the 100-meter dash in 11.84 seconds and the 200 in 24.61, while also running legs on Navy’s victorious 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays. Cook said the sophomore from Pittsburgh has a bright future and just continues to improve.
Mangan helped the 4x400 team record a time of 3:46.88 that is now the eight-fastest in Navy history. Shania Vincent, Chloe Alfieri and Helen West were the other members of that relay.
“Molly Mangan really stands out. She’s just amazing — an extremely talented athlete who works very hard,” he said.
Standout shot putter Sam Orie delivered an exceptional throw to win her signature event. The senior captain from Pennsylvania launched a toss of 48 feet, 4 inches, which is the second-best distance in Navy history.
“Sam Orie was fantastic again. She just continues to impress,” Cook said.
Javelin thrower Emma Foster outdid her classmate by setting a school record with a hurl of 170 feet, 6 inches. That throw will likely qualify the 5-foot-7 Texas native for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
“Emma Foster was probably the athlete of the meet on the women’s side. What a fantastic throw,” Cook said. That’s pretty darn impressive after being laid off as long as we were.”
Senior Breanna Mealer completed an impressive display in the field events for Navy by winning the long jump at a distance of 18 feet, 10 ½ inches. The Severn resident and Old Mill High graduate now owns the 10th-best performance in program history in that event.
Sophomore Stephanie Jacobs led a sweep of the pole vault with a winning height of 12 feet, 8 inches. Charlene Morke and Alayna Schloeder were second and third.
Other winners on the women’s side were Chloe Alfieri (400-meter dash, 55.55), Katie Halbert (100 hurdles, 14.04), Alexa Arthun (400 hurdles, 1:01.30) and Molly Chapman (high jump, 5-5).
Freshman Ellie Abraham lunged across the line to finish fourth in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase after falling over the final two barriers. Cook thought the plebe from South Dakota epitomized what Navy track and field is all about since she agreed to compete in the event despite having never ever practicing steeplechase.
“We threw a freshman with zero experience into the steeplechase and she gave her heart and soul to that event,” Cook said. “What Ellie did shows the grit and determination our athletes possess. That’s the type of selfless effort teams are built on.”
When all was said and done, Cook reflected on how remarkable it was for Navy athletes to sweep the archrival after being isolated in their dormitory rooms at Bancroft Hall for nearly a month.
“I’m just really happy for all the kids and for Navy track and field as a whole. This win means a lot to everyone involved,” he said. “All the smiles on the faces of our athletes are what I’m going to take away from that meet.”