Jan. 16, 2010
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's track & field team (4-1) claimed first in four events, earned nine runner-up finishes and posted IC4A qualifying-marks in four different events on its way to topping the five-team field at Saturday afternoon's invitational meet at the Wesley A. Brown Field House.
Navy held off three-time defending CAA champions UNC-Wilmington with 174 total points. The visiting Seahawks took second with 141 points, followed by VCU (91 points), Patriot League foe Lehigh (78) and Mount St. Mary's (42).
On the year, Navy has now qualified for the IC4A Championship in 10 different events with 14 total entries (11 individual entrants, three relays).
For the third time in as many meets this season, Mark Van Orden (Sr., Morris Plains, N.J.) was the victor in the 35-lb. weight throw. Van Orden, Navy's indoor team captain, once again improved upon his IC4A standing in the event with a top toss of 58'7.5" (17.87 meters).
In a competitive 500 field, Matt Evers (So., Bellevue, Neb.) earned entry to the March's IC4A Championship in a second event, earning runner-up honors with a clocking of 1:04.72, just 0.13 seconds off the pace set by UNC Wilmington's Chris Letson. Evers already owns the team's top time in the 800 with a qualifying mark of 1:52.51, set in the team's season-opening Navy Invitational meet back on December 5.
Cody Rome (So., Eagle, Idaho) also eclipsed the IC4A standard in the 1,000-meter run, finishing in second with a team season-best time of 2:28.05. Like Evers, Rome has now hit qualifying marks in a pair of events, after running a 4:09.67 mile in last weekend's dual against Princeton.
Navy's Andrew Hanko (Jr., Montville, N.J.) was the first to cross the finish line in the 3,000-meter run, just missing a qualifying clip with a time of 8:27.39.
The Mids also produced wins in the 800, where David Ash (Jr., Williamston, Mich. ) paced the field in 1:55.71 as well as in the mile, where Ken Bunnell (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) edged teammate Jeremy Haney (So., Palmyra, Va.) with a time of 4:17.82.
Navy closed out the afternoon with a strong showing in the 4x800-meter relay as the foursome of Bunnell, Rome, James Adair (Jr., Birmingham, Ala.) and Dominic Della Pelle (So., Kennett Square, Pa.) earned second-place points with an IC4A qualifying-time of 7:48.91.
The Midshipmen will remain in Annapolis next Saturday, January 23, to host a very competitive four-team field which will bring the likes of Maryland, Rutgers and Temple to the Wesley A. Brown Field House.
Team Scores
1. Navy 174
2. UNC Wilmington 141
3. VCU 91
4. Lehigh 78
5. Mount St. Mary's 42
Noteworthy:
*The afternoon's action on the track began with a non-scored, 5,000-meter run, which Navy senior Chris Horel (Sr., Belford, N.J.) won in a time of 14:58.47.
*The meet also saw three athletes compete in the heptathlon, which began on Friday evening. Navy's Chris Fowler (Fr., Westford, Mass.) produced a score of 4,055 in the seven-event competition, led by a 720-point effort in the 1,000 with a time of 2:54.37.
*On a whole, the afternoon's field produced 16 IC4A qualifying-performances. Lehigh's Khalil Uqdah made a run at the Field House record and a provisional NCAA mark in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 16'8.75" (5.10 meters).
## Go Navy! ##
