Mids Finish Second at Patriot League Championship

Feb. 18, 2007

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Navy women's track & field seniors Kirsten Andrews (New Holland, Pa.) and Loni Forsythe (Chattanooga, Tenn.) posted all-league performances in four events to lead the Midshipmen to a second-place finish at the Patriot League Championship in Army's Gillis Field House.

Defending league champion Bucknell claimed the team title in 2007 with 192 points, followed by Navy's 139.75 points, Army's 81 points, Lafayette's 76.75 points, Lehigh and Holy Cross' 47.75 points, Colgate's 34 points and American's one point.

Navy has finished among the top-three schools in each of their 13 appearances at the Patriot League Championship.

One day after breaking the school and league championship records in the long jump and 60-meter hurdles, Andrews claimed Patriot League Field Athlete-of-the-Meet honors with a first-place time in the 60-meter hurdles finals and second-place height in the pole vault. Her time of 8.71 seconds on Sunday ranks as the second-best clocking in school history, only 0.01-second off her time during the prelims yesterday. She then matched her season-high clearance in the pole vault, surpassing the 12'3-1/2" (3.75 meters) bar.

Forsythe was named Patriot League Track Athlete of the Meet after winning the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events. She won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.66 seconds, the third-fastest showing in school history. Yesterday, she set the league championship record with a time of 7.65 seconds during the prelims. She broke another league championship mark and school record in the 200-meter dash on Sunday, crossing the finish line in 24.87 seconds. Her time of 24.95 seconds during the prelims on Saturday was the first 200-meter dash performance under 25.00 seconds in school history.

Navy's distance medley relay claimed first-team all-league honors with a time of 12:18.71. The relay group of junior Vicki Moore (Burke, Va.), junior Stefanie Peskosky (Charlotte, N.C.), senior Erin Demchko (Pearl River, N.Y.) and junior Taren Burkett (Virginia Beach, Va.) combined for a time that shattered the previous season-best time by more than 20 seconds.

Moore also earned First-Team All-Patriot League honors for her efforts in the 1,000-meter run. She completed the race in 2:56.19, a season-best time that ranks as the ninth-fastest clocking in program history.

In her second meet of the season, senior Justine Whipple (Duxbury, Mass.) claimed gold in the 3,000-meter run with an ECAC-qualifying time of 9:53.92. She has won the event in both of her races this year.

Junior Lauren Burmeister (Brownsdale, Minn.) etched her name into the record books with the ninth-longest triple jump in school history. She soared 38'0" (11.58 meters) to place second in the event on Sunday. Burmeister, junior Jessica Orr (New Holland, Pa.), junior Joanna Clark (Harpers Ferry, W.Va.) and freshman Abby Gesecki (Nanticoke, Pa.) combined for a third-place time of 3:58.64 in the 4x400-meter relay.

Senior Priscilla Lewis (St. Andrews, Jamaica) registered a pair of two top-four performances in the sprint finals. She crossed the finish line in 7.81 seconds during the 60-meter dash to place third and finished fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.74 seconds.

Junior Jacquelyn Charnigo (Medina, Ohio) joined Andrews among the top-four heights in the pole vault, clearing 11'9-3/4" (3.60 meters). Orr placed fourth in the 400-meter run with a 59.27-second showing, Peskosky finished fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.59 and Gesecki crossed the finish line in 1:17.40 during the 500-meter run to place fifth.

The Midshipmen will next travel to Boston to compete in the ECAC Championship on March 3-4.

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