Feb. 19, 2006
Complete Results
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy sophomore Paul Harris (Woodbury, Minn.) set a league championship record in the 500-meter run and helped the first-team all-league 4x400-meter relay to earn Most Outstanding Track Athlete-of-the-Meet honors as the Midshipmen finished second at the 2006 Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championship in Halsey Field House.
Army won the championship with 188 points, 47 ahead of second-place Navy's total of 141 points. American came in third-place with 73 points, followed by Lehigh's 67 points, Lafayette's 58 points, Bucknell's 57 points, Colgate's 26 points and Holy Cross' 10 points.
The Midshipmen entered Sunday's action in a tie for third-place with 26 points, 27 behind Army's 53 points.
"We dug ourselves in a hole that we could not get out of," stated Navy head coach Stephen Cooksey. "We had a pretty good day today. Our team's performances were much better than yesterday, but we were too deep in a hole."
Harris broke the longest-standing Patriot League Championship record in the 500-meter run on Sunday. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 1:04.15, 0.13 second faster than the prior record of 1:04.28 set by Lehigh's Hassan Young at the 1992 league championship. Harris came back and ran the anchor leg of the league's fastest 4x400-meter relay in the championship's final event. Harris teamed up with sophomore William Ricks (Sussex, Va.), sophomore Craig Meekins (Baldwin, N.Y.) and junior Cameron Lindsay (Kernersville, N.C.) to post a time of 3:19.43.
Yesterday, Harris picked up second-team All-Patriot League honors in the 4x800-meter relay that recorded a second-place finish. Harris combined with sophomore Lucas Burke (Bakersfield, Calif.), senior Joshua Sink (Welcome, N.C.) and Meekins to cross the finish line in a season-best time of 7:37.02.
"Paul did a great job out there this weekend," said Cooksey. "As a sophomore, I think he's just going to get better and become a force to deal with."
In addition to picking up all-league honors in the 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays, Meekins also corralled Second-Team All-Patriot League distinction in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.84 on Sunday.
"Craig did a tremendous job," Cooksey commented. "He ran a great race in the 800 meters and held his own when we slipped him down to the 4x400-meter relay."
Also, three Midshipmen captured First-Team All-Patriot League accolades for first-place finishes during the league championship's final day.
Senior Marcus Scarborough (Columbia, S.C.) paced the field with a 7.74-second showing in the 55-meter hurdles. Scarborough broke his career record in the event twice on Saturday, as he crossed the finish line in 7.73 and 7.72 seconds during the prelims and semifinals, respectively.
Ricks ran the 400 meters in a season-best time of 49.08 seconds to secure first-place points for the Midshipmen. The sophomore also jumped three places between the semifinals to the finals to finish fourth in the 200-meter dash with a career-best effort of 23.20 seconds.
Sophomore Dante Marshall (Hermitage, Pa.) soared a distance of 45'11-3/4" (14.01 meters) to win the triple jump event for the fifth-time this season. Lindsay placing sixth with a 43'9" (13.33 meters) showing in the event, in addition to his third-place time of 1:05.58 in the 500-meter run.
One of Navy's strongest events came in the 55-meter dash, where all four of its finals qualifiers scored. Sophomore Reggie Campbell (Sanford, Fla.) finished second in 6.58 seconds, while sophomore Brandon Vier (Cypress, Texas) crossed the line in 6.61 seconds for fourth, freshman John Forbes (Tampa, Fla.) placed fifth with a 6.65-second effort and freshman Shun White (Memphis, Tenn.) secured a point with a sixth-place time of 6.68 seconds.
Navy had two throwers garner points in the shot put on Sunday. Sophomore Darryl Hunter (Des Moines, Iowa) earned second-team all-league honors with a throw of 53'2-3/4" (16.22 meters), while sophomore Andre Barber (Carrollton, Texas) uncorked a sixth-place heave of 47'3/4" (14.34 meters).
The Midshipmen's next meet comes in two weeks as they travel to Boston for the IC4A Championship on March 4-5. The championship will be Navy's final chance to qualify for the NCAA Championship in Fayetteville, Ark., on March 10-11. Last season, the Mids ranked 22nd among 53 schools that scored at the IC4A Championship.
