New York, NY - Senior Kaci Clark collected her second Academy pole vault record on January 29th, competing at the second installment of the "Saturday Night at The Armory" series at the infamous New York City indoor arena.
Clark previously set the USMA pole vault record of 3.70 meters at the Yale Springtime Invitational, an outdoor event on April 25, 2010. Classmate Hallie Huggins owned the Academy’s top indoor height at 3.65 meters until Clark’s leap on Saturday night. The senior matched her outdoor mark of 3.70m to complete the sweep of West Point pole vault records.
The Army captain also earned the Black Knights’ first ECAC Championship invite of 2011, eclipsing the standard of 3.60m.
As a team, the Army women finished ninth of 10 teams, collecting 17.5 points. Cornell won the event with 159.5 points. The Black Knight men finished fifth of 12 teams, earning 67.33 points. Princeton won the men’s team title with 149 points.
Clark’s teammates set a number of 2011 season bests on the night and recorded multiple top-10 finishes.
Junior Shalela Dowdy set a season-best mark in the 800 meters, finishing in 2:22.66. Classmate Victoria Carpenter set the 2011 standard in the weight throw, recording a toss of 13.94 meters for a 10th-place finish.
The Army men also set a number of 2011 season bests as well as continued their flurry of IC4A Championship invites.
In the mile, senior Alexis Torre-Santiago collected this third IC4A invite of the season, finishing in a 2011-best 4:09.74 for ninth place in a field of 30. Torre-Santiago is the second Black Knight to qualify in the event after classmate Bryce Livingston earned a nod at last week’s Harvard Challenge. Torre-Santiago had previously qualified for the 800 and 1,000 meters this season.
Senior Alfred McDaniel, who had already qualified in the 60 meters and long jump, improved upon his 60m time in 2011 with a fourth-place finish of 6.91 seconds.
Classmate Domonick Sylve continued his stranglehold on the 60-meter hurdles, winning another individual title in a field of 16 by finishing in a blazing 8.02 seconds. Freshman Clint Hepworth finished fourth in the event in 8.30 seconds.
Sophomore Justin Harris established a season-best height in the pole vault, eclipsing the bar at 4.65 meters.
Junior Chris Jones also recorded a season-best mark, finishing the 1,000 meters in 2:28.00.
Next up for the Black Knights is one of the most anticipated events of the indoor season, the Star Match against service academy rival Navy. Army will host the Midshipmen at Gillis Field House at West Point on Saturday, February 5th.
