LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (April 19, 2025) - The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's track and field team had a fantastic showing at the Rider Invite on Saturday. Kings Point finished fifth out of 13 teams and had 17 top-ten finishes at the meet. Additionally, 11 Mariners put up personal bests at the event.
Meet Links
Freshman
Garrett Rees (Rising Sun, Md.) led the way for the Mariners with four top 10 finishes. Classmates
Logan Ginther (Clovis, Calif.) and
Nicholas Troiano (Burlington Flats, N.Y.) had three each, and senior
Konnor Bye (Liberty Hill, Texas), junior
Nathan Fields (Westminster, Md.), and freshman
Easton Millard (Scottsdale, Ariz.) all had two. Freshman
Holden Collier (Mount Vernon, Wash.) also posted a top 10 finish.
Rees finished seventh in the discus and shot put with a toss of 38.24m (125' 5") and a mark of 12.72m (41' 8.75"), a new personal best. He also produced new PRs in the hammer throw and javelin with throws of 33.88m (111' 2") and 33.91m (111' 3"), picking up eighth-place finishes in both. Ginther finished fourth in the discus with a 40.17m (131' 9") mark, a new personal best, while posting another in the javelin with a throw of 37.66m (123' 7") for a seventh-place finish. He also finished 10th in the shot put with an 11.07m (36' 4") mark. Troiano finished sixth in the javelin with a personal best of 39.99m (131' 2"), eighth in the shot put with a toss of 11.57m (37' 11.5"), and put up another personal best in the discus with a 28.55m (93' 8") mark to finish eighth.
Bye finished fourth and seventh in the triple jump and long jump with leaps of 13.62m (44' 8.25") and 6.71m (22' 0.25"). Millard came in fourth in the javelin with a new personal best of 43.56m (142' 11") while finishing eighth in the discus with a throw of 31.48m (103' 3"). He also PRed in the hammer throw with a 30.14m (98'11") mark. Fields had sixth-place finishes in the shot put and discus with marks of 13.13m (43' 1") and 38.66m (126' 10").
Collier finished sixth in the high jump with a 1.65m (5' 5") mark for a sixth-place finish while posting new personal bests in the 100m (11.80), 200m (23.77), and 400m (52.54).
Four Kings Point distance runners also hit new personal bests on the day. Seniors Alex Burita (Annandale, Va.) and Michael Lyon (Jacksonville, Fla.), and freshman Ethan Alliot (Sheridan, Wy.) all set new career bests in the 1500m. Burita was the Blue and Gray's fastest finisher in the event with a time of 4:19.17, while Alliot and Lyon crossed the finish line in 4:19.70 and 4:21.80. Alliot also had a new career best in the 400 with a time of 54.73.
Plebes Thomas Bailey (Hartville, Ohio) and Rory McWeeney (Portland, Ore.) recorded personal bests in the 3000 steeplechase, with Bailey serving as the Mariner's fastest finisher in 12:37.85 while McWeeney came across in 12:52.21. McWeeney also had a personal best in the 1500m with a time of 5:07.42
Junior Kolbe Weinkopf (Santa Paula, Calif.) had a personal best in the 800m with a time of 2:21.45.
Merchant Marine will lace it up next Sunday, April 27, at the Skyline Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet on the campus of Farmingdale State College. Kings Point will seek its first Skyline Conference title after finishing as the runner-up at the meet for the last three years.
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