Women's Track Opens Indoor Season with Strong Showing

Dec. 1, 2009

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 2009-10 Navy women's track and field season got off to a successful start as the Midshipmen (4-0) topped the five-team field at the season-opening Lid-Lifter meet Tuesday evening at the Wesley A. Brown Field House.

Navy produced five individual event wins en route to dual-scored victories over Morgan State (239-110), Mount St. Mary's (248-133), Towson (230-207) and American (265-76).

"We are happy to get this first meet under our belts and get the year underway," said Navy head coach Carla Criste. "It's a long season, but we put up some good times for this stage of the year and were encouraged by what we saw out of our girls tonight."

Senior Erica Ziel (Saginaw, Mich.) opened the meet by cruising to victory in the 5,000 with a time of 17:52.03 - a full 23.7 seconds ahead of the next fastest competitor.

Fellow senior and 2009-10 Navy indoor team captain Abby Gesecki (Nanticoke, Pa.) also contributed an individual victory in the 800, crossing the finish in 2:19.34.

Meanwhile in the 3,000, sophomore Mollie Hebda (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was the top scoring performer with a career-best 10:11.84 effort.

Sophomore Christine Scales (Monte Sereno, Calif.) took home top honors in the pole vault with a successful clearance of 11'3Â¾"(3.45m), matching her career-best effort. Senior Jessica Schlaegel (Nashport, Ohio) earned a share of second behind Scales, clearing the bar at 10'4" (3.15m).

In the high jump, freshman Kristin Smith (Harleysville, Pa.) was victorious in her collegiate debut with a winning clearance of 5'5" (1.65m).

In the 20-lb. weight throw competition, sophomore Amanda Phelps (Oceanside, Calif.) was Navy's top performer, achieving a new career-long with a 49'11" (15.21m) toss to place second. Phelps' previous best of 48'8-1/4 (14.84m) came in a third-place effort during last February's Star Meet victory over Army. Phelps also added a runner-up finish with a 40'2"(12.24m) showing in the shot put.

Navy will return to action in a little over a month's time at the Delaware Invitational on Jan. 8, in Newark, Del.

Noteworthy:
*Tuesday's meet was the first of four meets that will be held at the Wesley A. Brown Field House. The Mids next compete at home on January 16 in a five-team meet, which will include James Madison, Mount St. Mary's (Md.), UNC-Wilmington and VCU.

*A new Wesley A. Brown Field House in the weight throw was set by Morgan State's Allison Randall. Randall delivered a toss of 58'6Â½" (17.84m), surpassing Bucknell's Chelsey Musante's 56'8Â½" throw recorded at last year's Patriot league Championship.

*Dating back to the 2004-05 season, Navy has won 45-consecutive indoor dual-scored meets and owns an impressive 82-1 mark in regular season scored meets (both indoor and outdoor). A year ago, Navy produced a perfect 17-0 combined indoor and outdoor mark in dual-scored meets, which included the program's seventh Star Meet sweep of rival Army.

Dual Meet Scores
Navy 230, Towson 207
Navy 248, Mount St. Mary's 133
Navy 239, Morgan State 110
Navy 265, American 76
Morgan State 118, American 88
Mount St. Mary's  165, American 87
Mount St. Mary's  157, Morgan State 100 
 Towson 253, American 80
 Towson 231, Morgan State, 110
Towson  232, Mount St. Mary's 143

Dual Meet Records
Navy: 4-0
Towson: 3-1
Mount St. Mary's: 2-2
Morgan State: 1-3
American: 0-4