Feb. 22, 2009
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's track & field squad won two of the meet's final three events to stage a dramatic, come-from-behind victory and capture the 2009 Patriot League Indoor Championships on Sunday at the Wesley A. Brown Field House.
Led by junior Amy Watson (Hampstead, Md.), who took home Patriot League Track Athlete of the Meet honors after leading a momentous scoring effort in winning Sunday's 3,000m and finishing second in the mile, Navy staked claim to the program's second conference title and first since the 2001 season.
"This was a truly special weekend for our program," said an exuberant Navy head coach Carla Criste, who earned the conference's top coaching honor for the second time in her career. "We definitely have exceeded the expectations I had coming into the season, but I wouldn't say I am all that surprised by the success this group has had.
"The girls, particularly our freshmen, came into the winter with a terrific can-do attitude, which I think began with the cross country team's league win during the fall. I think the `expect to win' mantra we've adopted here at the Academy definitely held true throughout the weekend."
Navy, who has placed among the top-three schools in each of its 15 appearances at the Patriot League Championship, concluded the weekend with a meet-leading 151 points, edging heavily-favored Bucknell by nine points and topping third-place Army by a commanding 57-point margin. In the process, the Mids, who were picked to finish fourth in the league's preseason poll, snapped the Bison women's seven-year reign atop the conference (2002-08).
"It's so nice to beat the streak on our home track and really christen our wonderful new field house," added Criste.
After flip-flopping between first and second most of the day, with only three events left remaining on Sunday's slate (3,000m, DMR and 4x400m), it was the Bison who maintained a 10-point advantage (124-114).
That was when Watson, who took second in a hotly-contested mile earlier in the day, stepped up to lead the Mids' biggest scoring effort of the afternoon. Navy claimed four of the top-six spots in the 3,000m to earn 21 points and forge ahead, 135-126. The 21 points were a full 19 more than Bucknell, whose lone scoring 3K runner finished in the fifth.
Watson was never really tested and won by more than eight seconds with her time of 9:52.72. It was the second victory of the weekend for Navy's junior distance stalwart, who won the 5,000m by more than 12 seconds in 17:15.48 on Saturday afternoon.
"Amy did it all this weekend, "said Criste. "I know she was nursing a few injuries, but she just has that unbelievable mentality that you see a lot in the military, where she will do whatever it takes for her team to achieve its goals. She is incredibly unselfish. She wasn't really feeling fantastic, but she sucked it up and went for it."
While Watson's effort was certainly impressive, it was the quality depth behind her that really boosted the Mids. Junior Erica Ziel (Saginaw, Mich.) pulled ahead into third with just two laps go and maintained her position there finishing in 10:10.30. Meanwhile, Navy received a pair of poised efforts from junior Lexa Gass (Crescent, Pa.), who was next to cross the finish in fourth (10:15.76), and senior Carey Young (Virginia Beach, Va.) who took sixth (10:18.77) to round out Navy's scorers in the event.
With the program's second league crown within reach, the Navy distance medley foursome of junior
Kayla Sax (Richland Wash.), senior
Ashley Waddle (Cary, N.C.), freshman
Jess Palacio (Sparks, Nev.) and senior
Maureen Dooley (Durham, Conn.) stepped up to the plate and teamed up to record a championship-clinching 12:07.50 victory. "We were not really expecting to get that kind of effort," said Criste. "At that juncture in the day, we had really tapped into everybody two or three times. It was amazing to see the splits we put up in that race. The girls came out determined and really fed off the energy of their teammates."
Sax was coming off a standout effort in 1,000-meter run where she racked up important points for the Mids less than an hour and a half prior to the DMR win. In that race, the Navy junior opened up her stride over the final 100-plus meters to pull into second where she would finish with a personal-record 1,000m effort of 2:57.64. Meanwhile, Palacio was also a factor in the 800-meter run, where she placed in fourth with a time of 2:18.18.
Other highlights of the day were supplied by junior Abby Gesecki (Nanticoke, Pa.), who finished second and registered a career-best clocking in the 500-meter run in 1:14.37, and then later contributed to the team's meet-closing, third-place 4x400m effort.
Also contributing in that 4x400m was Navy's rookie standout Mansfield Murph (Mechanicsville, Va.), one of four Mids' freshmen to come away from the weekend with All-Patriot League honors. Murph earned second-place points in the 400-meter dash with a career-best 58.82 and then went on to notch her second PR in as many days in the finals of the 200m with her sixth-place, 25.77-second performance.
Fellow first-year standout Ashley Aitken (Yuma, Ariz.) also delivered for the Mids, fighting off a recent bout of pneumonia to record a 8.93 clocking and earn runner-up honors in the 60m hurdles.
"This has been one of the most fun and energetic group of plebes I have had the pleasure of coaching in almost 20 years here," said Criste. "They are just so optimistic and have such great attitudes that it really makes my job a lot of fun."
Navy's field event performances on the day were led by point-scoring efforts from senior Katie Berkey (Tempe, Ariz.) and freshman Amanda Phelps (Oceanside, Calif.). Berkey recorded a distance of 37'1/4" (11.32m) to earn third-place honors in the triple jump, while Phelps finished in fifth in the shot put with her career-long toss of 41'9-1/4" (12.73m).
The team also received valuable contributions from each of its senior captains in Debbi Choi (Clarksville, Md.) and Angelique Martin (Lexington Park, Md.). Choi took fifth in the 60-meter dash in 7.98 seconds, while Martin contributed as a part of the squad's surprising 4x400m scoring effort.
The Navy women will have the week off before they return to action on March 7-8 in Boston for the ECAC Championships.
Notes: Watson is the fourth Navy athlete and the first since Loni Forsythe in 2007 to claim Patriot League Track Athlete of the Meet honors at the indoor championships ... Criste also earned Patriot League Coach of the Year honors in 2001.
Final Women's Team Standings1. Navy 1512. Bucknell 1423. Army 944. Holy Cross 795. Lehigh 646. Colgate 527. Lafayette 308. American 8
Team Champions: NavyTrack Athlete of the Meet: Amy Watson, NavyCo-Field Performers of the Meet: Chelsea Musante, Bucknell Jessica Buzzell, LafayetteRookie of the Meet: Stephanie Fulmer, BucknellCoach of the Year: Carla Criste, NavyScholar-Athlete of the Year: Erica Ziel, Navy
Navy HonoreesFirst-Team All-Patriot LeagueMaureen Dooley, DMR - Mile (12:07.50)Jess Palacio, DMR - 800(12:07.50)Kayla Sax, DMR - 1,200m (12:07.50)Christine Scales, High jump (1.65m)Ashley Waddle DMR - 400m (12:07.50)Amy Watson, 3,000m run (9:52.72), 5,000m run (17:15.48)
Second-Team All-Patriot LeagueKatie Berkey, Pentathlon (3,232 pts.)Amy Watson, Mile run (5:02.61)Ashley Aitken, 60m Hurdles (8.93)Mansfield Murph, 400m Dash (58.52)Abby Gesecki, 500m Dash (1:14.37)Kayla Sax, 1,000m run (2:57.64)
### GO NAVY! ###
