April 5, 2008

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Navy women's track & field jumper Jacqui Charnigo (Sr./Medina, Ohio) finished second in two events as the Midshipmen placed eighth out of 21 teams at the Colonial Relays on Friday and Saturday.

Michigan State captured the team title with 124 points, followed by Seton Hall's 112 points, William & Mary's 101 points, James Madison's 72.33 points and Georgetown's 70 points to round out the top five. Navy's 31 points were six better than Yale's 25 points to earn an eighth-place finish.

Charnigo qualified for the ECAC Championship in the pole vault with a second-place height of 11'11-3/4" (3.65 meters). She would also rank second in the high jump, clearing the 5'3" (1.60 meters) bar.

Navy's strongest event came in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, as two Mids posted a top-10 time in school history. Arwyn Becker (Sr./Vail, Colo.) came in second with an ECAC qualifying time of 10:50.90, which was just 0.70-second off NCAA regional qualification and the fourth-fastest clocking in program history. Maureen Dooley (Jr./Durham, Conn.) boasted the school's sixth-fastest time in the record books and placed fifth on the weekend with her 11:06.28 showing.

Two other Midshipmen and one relay corralled points over the two-day event. Erica Ziel (So./Saginaw, Mich.) just missed ECAC qualification in the 5,000-meter run, as she finished fourth with a time of 17:29.81. Mia Blundetto (So./Apple Valley, Minn.) uncorked a toss of 151'10" (46.29 meters) in the hammer throw to land sixth. Navy's 4x800-meter relay combined for a sixth-place 9:23.27 clocking.

Navy will head up to West Point this Friday to compete against Army in the annual outdoor Star Meet, starting at 11:30 a.m. The Midshipmen have claimed the outdoor N-Star in each of the past-three years.