Jan. 6, 2007
Results
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's track & field team placed first in 10 of 17 events on Saturday, however Princeton won the decisive final event of the afternoon in claiming a 91-90 win over the Mids at Halsey Field House.
"Our guys did a great job of really competing today," stated navy head coach Stephen Cooksey. "This year, we wanted to be ready to work when we came back from break so we can be a championship team. Comparing our results today to our season-opening meet last month, our performances were better in several areas."
The Midshipmen trailed 83-82 heading into the final-two events, the 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays. Navy's Cameron Lindsay (Kernersville, N.C.), Craig Meekins (Baldwin, N.Y.), William Ricks (Sussex, Va.) and Paul Harris (Woodbury, Minn.), who's shoe ripped apart in the beginning of the anchor leg, teamed up to win the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:19.4, 0.2 second ahead of Princeton's mark, and give the hosts a slim 87-86 lead heading into the last relay.
In the 4x800-meter relay, Navy held the lead halfway through the race after Lucas Burke (Bakersfield, Calif.) erased a Navy deficit after the opening leg. Princeton's third leg came back to take the lead, but the race remained close going into the fourth and final leg, as Ben Kozy (Houston, Texas) trailed by only a step in the final-200 meters of the race. However, the visitors were able to pull away and claim the dual-meet victory with a time of 7:58.9, while the Mids finished with an 8:01.2 clocking.
Harris also came away victorious in the 800-meter run, while Meekins placed second, to give Navy its first lead of the afternoon, 51-47. Harris, who broke the school record in the event last month, crossed the finish line in 1:53.5, while Meekins followed with a time of 1:56.0.
Ricks won the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.5 seconds and Lindsay qualified for the IC4A Championship in placing second during the 500-meter run, crossing the finish line in 1:05.0.
Dante Marshall (Hermitage, Pa.) claimed victories in both the long and triple jumps on Saturday for the Mids. Marshall soared 22'9-3/4" (6.95 meters) to win the long jump, and then came back with a distance of 46'10-3/4" (14.29 meters) in claiming first in the triple jump.
Darryl Hunter (Des Moines, Iowa) joined Marshall as an IC4A Championship qualifier on Saturday, meeting the standard in winning the shot put. Hunter uncorked a throw of 53'3-1/2" (16.24 meters) to out-distance the second-place mark by six inches.
Brandon Vier (Cypress, Texas) posted a 6.4-second showing in the 55-meter dash to earn first-place honors. Burke followed with a winning time of 2:32.4 in the 1,000-meter run and Andrew Grant (Athens, Ga.) claimed first in the 3,000-meter run with an 8:32.7 effort.
Navy will remain home next Saturday to host American, Penn and VCU in Halsey Field House, starting at 11:30 a.m.
