Army West Point Athletics
Track and Field Sees National Qualifier, Quarterfinalist Qualifier in First Two Days at NCAA East Regionals
May 30, 2025 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Army West Point Track and Field showcased its talent at the NCAA East First Round Championships, held at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
The Black Knights delivered strong performances in both track and field events, highlighted by a standout showing by Emily Fink in the women's hammer throw.
In the women's field events, Emily Fink led the way securing fourth place in the hammer throw with a mark of 66.46 meters (218-0), qualifying her for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
In distance events, Mikayla Cheney advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 1500m run, finishing 23rd in the first round with a 4:16.77 final time. Charlotte Richman also competed in the 1500m, finishing with a final mark of 4:24.90.
Louisa Diamond also made her appearance at the regional meet in the 10,000m run, clocking a final time of 34:08.10 to finish 24th in the field.
On the men's side, Robby Manse demonstrated versatility with a 25th-place finish in the hammer throw (62.28 meters, 204-4) and 32nd place in the shot put (17.69 meters, 58-½).
Teammates Elijah Goodwin and Collin Torres placed 45th and 48th in the javelin with 56.96m and 53.42m marks respectively.
In the pole vault, Brian McSweeney cleared 5.03 meters (16-6) to earn 37th place, and Kasen Jeitz represented Army in the 800 meters, finishing 44th with a time of 1:51.81.
Over the next two days of competition, seven more Black Knights will compete in the East Regional Meet, with four athletes competing Friday and three athletes competing Saturday.
Emily Fink will aim to punch her ticket for a second event in Eugene, competing alongside Jordan Hecht in the women's shot put starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, Javan Guevara-Cragwell will compete in the men's triple jump at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and Nathan Davis will round out the group competing in the 3000m steeplechase on 5:40 p.m. on Friday evening.
On Saturday, Sophia Dykstra will compete in the women's discus at 1:00 p.m., Mikayla Cheney will compete in the quarterfinal round of the 1500m run at 5:15 p.m. and Joanna Halfhill will round out the group battling in the 3000m steeplechase at 5:40 p.m. Friday evening.
Hear From Coach Smith:
The NCAA track and field championships kicked off this week with two regional meets from which 24 individuals (12 from the East and 12 from the West) will qualify to compete in Eugene, Oregon at the NCAA championships June 11-14. Each of these regional meets is the best meet in the world in 2025 until we get to Eugene….then that will reign supreme as the best meet on the planet. We qualified 14 (7 men and 7 women) to the East prelims here in Jacksonville. It is a big number for our program and represents the quality of the athletes in our program. Yesterday, we suffered through some long lightning delays and eventually got everything completed. Robby Manse '26 competed in the hammer and threw very close to his personal best. He followed that up with a respectable showing in the shot put today. He has had a breakthrough season and a dominated the Patriot League indoors and out. He finishes this year with some outstanding improvements and a clear understanding of what he needs to do to get to the next level. Our two javelin guys threw yesterday as well. Collin Torres '28 and Elijah Goodwin '27 are both young and will be here again. They learned that you can't will yourself to success at this level and that you have to stay true to your technique to match the level of performance needed to qualify for this meet. They are two talented and disciplined young men so the future is bright for us in that event. Brian McSweeney '25 was the first Second Lieutenant from our team to compete this weekend. He warmed up yesterday and then the storms hit and shut us down. He got going this morning and cleared the opening height but couldn't get to the next bar. He ends his college career with numerous accolades including a good run at the school record, multiple star meet victories and multiple Patriot League titles. He was a star for us and we will miss him. Kasen Jeitz '26 closed out a great year of significant improvements and multiple Star Meet wins with a strong performance here. The lightning delay pushed the 800m to close to midnight. Kasen got out well in the race and was where he needed to be with 200 meters remaining but could not muster the kick that usually propels him to the front of races. He finishes the year ranked number 2 on the Army all-time list in the 800 indoors and outdoors. Today was day 1 of the women's meet and was kicked off for the Army team by the women's hammer throw early this morning. Emily Fink '25 came into the week ranked as the number 1 hammer thrower in the NCAA. She punched her ticket to Eugene today on her 2nd throw of the competition when she launched the hammer 66.46 meters (218'). It was a mark that she has achieved or eclipsed numerous times this year. I say that not to minimize the mark or the accomplishment but rather to emphasize that today was merely about qualifying for Eugene. She only got three attempts and all she had to do was finish in the top 12. She finished fourth today and moves on to Eugene where she will be tested against some of the best people in the world. Multiple Olympians will be represented in the field of hammer throwers. It will be a great competition, and Fink will be part of the reason it is great. She will go in with the No. 1 throw in the entire NCAA. She will be challenged to make the final and be challenged to score in the top eight. The last time the Army women scored any team points at the NCAA meet was in 1990 when Diana Wills finished third in the triple jump. With her qualification today, Emily becomes only the third Army woman to ever qualify for the NCAA D1 championship more than once (Wills 1988, 1990; Lawson 1997, 1998) and only the sixth woman to ever qualify for the meet (Wills, Laswon, Sobiesk 1988, Wren 1998, Mikoud 2022). Also competing today for our team were Charlotte Richman '26 and Mikayla Cheney '27 in the women's 1500. The event time was moved to accommodate the expected lightning and rain that came later in the day. The result was a race in the heat of the day. The heat approached the low 90's with fairly high humidity as our women prepared for the 3: p.m. start time. Both of our women were in heat number two and in looking at the field of competitors we felt good about our chances to advance. The top 5 in each 1500m preliminary heat and the next 4 time qualifiers advance to the Saturday quarterfinal. Charlotte and Mikayla ran well today and they did what we talked about doing. Charlotte hung around the back of the front pack and at the bell was in 8th place still in the hunt to move when the pace picked up. She was unable to match the quick pace over the final 400 meters and finished in 11th. She had a great junior year. She won multiple Star Meet titles, was our number 1 runner all year in cross country, led us to two Patriot League team championships (cross country, outdoor track and field), and set multiple program records. She is a star in every way imaginable. It was a disappointing end to the season but she was and remains a champion for us and will continue to lead us to more titles. Mikayla also executed the race plan today and got herself out into the top 6 and then held that spot the entire race. She was in contention to win the race at the bell as she challenged for the lead. The pace was somewhat pedestrian and there was a risk that whoever finished sixth would get knocked out of qualifying unless there was a really fast finish. A fast finish is what Mikayla delivered. She closed the final 400 meters in 63.47. It is the fastest last 400 she has ever run and it was enough to qualify her through to the quarterfinal on Saturday.
Players Mentioned
