Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Larry Ellis Invitational
Track and Field Puts Together Strong Weekend at Larry Ellis Invitational
May 02, 2026 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Army West Point track and field program had another strong week of competition at the Larry Ellis Invitational on Friday and Saturday inside the Weaver Track and Field Stadium.
Army finished with 14 total podiums and six first-place finishes, including three each day.
Friday
The Black Knights had an incredibly strong showing – especially on the track – during the first day of the meet, which was highlighted by a pair of program records.
Skye Chambers set a program record and service academy record in the 800m, as she finished second with a time of 2:02.93. The service academy record, which was set by Gail Conway of Air Force in 1984, was the oldest service academy record left to be broken.
Claire Lewis also set a program record in the 3000m steeplechase with a first-place time of 10:03.05, more than four seconds clear of second place in the race.
Army's second win of the day came in the 1500m, as Mikayla Cheney put together a time of 4:13.72.
The final Black Knight win of the night came courtesy of Nathan Davis in the seeded 5000m, as he posted a time of 13:54.35.
In the men's 800m, Kasen Jeitz (1:47.95) and Ammon Smith (1:48.27) finished second and third respectively. Todd Worth (8th) and Jack Musgrave (10th) also recorded top 10 results in the event.
In the javelin, Charlie Allsup finished third with a distance of 60.10m.
Saturday
Jordan Hecht had Army's first victory of Saturday, posting a mark of 16.69m, edging out second place by .01m.
In the non-seeded 800m, freshman Jack Kemling won the race at 1:53.02.
Josh Duncan also won the 200m at 21.04. Owen Lang finished in seventh at 21.69.
In the men's 4x100m, Army's quartet of Jaxon Hammond, Owen Lang, Joshua Duncan and Trey McGinnis finished second at 39.84.
Sophomore Ryan Rheam was third in the 1500m at 3:51.39.
Hammond had his second podium of the weekend in the 100m, posting a time of 10.44 to finish third. Duncan and McGinnis finished behind him in fourth and fifth.
Matthew Palchak was third in the shot put, throwing a distance of 17.52m.
Up Next
Army's home finale is next Thursday, as it hosts the West Point Twilight. Competition will get underway at 1:30 p.m. at Shea Stadium.
Quotable – Director of Track and Field Mike Smith
"It was a great day to be a Black Knight. The weather was great and so were our performances. We lined up a lot of our team tonight in what is one of the last tune-ups for the Patriot league Championship in 2 weeks. The afternoon was for the field events but the night belonged to the middle distance and distance runners and it was historic. We won a lot of our races against very good competition. Of all the performance improvements that we had tonight I was most impressed with how we competed. We competed to win every race we were in and the fast times were a result of the competitive effort. One opposing coach remarked to me, "you have had an impressive night" by night's end, that comment was an understatement. We lined up 4 men in the 800 meters and they all ran great led by Kasen Jeitz '26 and his 1:47.9 runner-up performance. Ammon Smith '27 was right behind Kasen with a 1:48.27 (a new lifetime best), Todd Worth '29 ran 1:49.2 and Jack Musgrave '28 had a huge breakthrough in winning his heat with a 1:49.71. I don't know for sure, but can speculate that this is the first time in program history that Army has had 4 men under 1:50 on the same day. It was a strong showing by one of the top 800 meter squads in the NCAA. Nate Davis '26 won the men's 5000m tonight with a new personal best of 13:54. He won it against some good athletes and he did it with a strong closing last two laps. He looked great tonight and is a threat to win the conference meet in multiple events. He is learning how to be patient and how to play to his strengths. Tonight's performance was a big confidence boost for him as he looks ahead at the championship meets that are coming. Our women's results tonight were historically good. Mikayla Cheney '27 continued her dominance in the 1500m. She won the race tonight in 4:13.6. That is just a half second off her school record set a few weeks ago in Virginia and while she had hoped to go under 4:13 today, she demonstrated that she can win a race off a fast pace. She was 2:14 at the 800 and going into the last lap she was at 3:05. That is the fastest she has ever been at the bell. She closed in 67, all alone. She will be able to drop a 63 by the time we get to the championship meets and that will make her tough to beat. She has the skills now to win a kickers race and can also go hard from the gun. All she needs is the right competitive field and she will go well under 4:13. We know for sure that she will face that challenge in the NCAA. She is ready. Claire Lewis won the 3000m steeplechase tonight in 10:03.05. That is a full 19 seconds faster than she has ever run. It was a nearly flawless performance. She has struggled in the past with some technical issues in getting over the barriers with a good rhythm but tonight she was all rhythm and it paid off. She raced with the leaders for the first 5 laps of the race and then with 2 laps remaining, she took command and pulled away. Her time broke the Academy record of 10:11 set by Helen Shearer 5 years ago and is the fastest time ever run by a Patriot League woman in the steeplechase. She never faltered in the race and her last lap was her fastest of the race (77s). She was the class of the field tonight. The highlight of the evening for the Army team was Skye Chambers '27. Skye has been running at a high level all year. But tonight, she put herself into a different category. In a race that we knew would go hard from the gun, Skye was instructed to get close to the leaders and maintain contact through 200, 400 and 500 meters. The early pace was fast at the 200 meter mark (28.6), she came through the 400 at 59.28 and was in 5th as the bell sounded with 1 lap to go. At that point, Skye started to move past the runners that were ahead of her. By the 500 meter mark she was in fourth, trailing two Penn State women and a professional runner. At the 600 meter mark, the rabbit dropped out of the race and Skye found herself in 2nd at 1:30 on the clock. In the last 100 meters she closed the gap on the leader and almost won the race at the finish line. Her time of 2:02.95 set a new Academy record (previous mark was 2:05 held by Anna Tovkach '22) and broke the oldest service academy record on the books. In 1984 Gail Conway of Air Force ran 2:03.92 a mark that held up as the best ever for a Service Academy woman for 42 years. Skye Chambers took it down tonight and she looked good doing it. It was a great night for our men and women. We expect to carry this momentum into the next two weeks where we will need to sharpen our focus on winning. We took a step in the right direction tonight."
Players Mentioned
