Feb. 20, 2010
Results
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Mark Van Orden (Sr., Morris Plains, N.J.) and Andrew Hanko (Jr., Montville, N.J.) each claimed individual titles highlighting the Navy men's track team's efforts on Saturday at the Patriot League Championships.
Through six scored events, the Midshipmen currently stand in third place with 37 total points, behind Bucknell (57 points) and second-place Army (47 points). American is fourth with 14 points, trailed by Lafayette in fifth with 13 points and Colgate and Lafayette in sixth place with eight points apiece. Holy Cross rounds out the eight-team field with two team points.
Van Orden successfully defended his 35-pound weight throw title thanks to a season-best toss of 63'2.25" (19.26 meters). The throw easily eclipsed his previous season-best of 60'1" (18.31 meters), while also outdistancing the top toss of the event's runner-up, Adam Schwartz of Army by more than six feet.
It is Van Orden's second career weight throw title and the fourth individual Patriot League championship of his stellar throwing career at Navy (he also has won the hammer at the last two spring championship meets). A Navy thrower has now won the Patriot League weight throw crown in three-straight seasons (Chris Bordino in 2008, Van Orden in '09 and '10).
Navy also received a career-best and IC4A-qualifying effort from Chris Ricks (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio) in the event. Ricks took third in the event with a PR toss of 56'3.75" (17.16 meters), adding almost three full feet to his previous-best effort of 53'8" (16.37 meters).
Meanwhile in the 5,000, Andrew Hanko picked up his third career conference title with a winning time of 14:26.60. Hanko, who won the 3,000 title at last year's indoor championship in Annapolis and was the 5K champ during the spring meet in West Point, finished a full 7.12 seconds ahead of the next runner across the line.
Other individual scoring efforts for Navy saw Joshua Houston (So., Daphne, Ala.) taking fifth in the high jump (6'6.25"; 1.99 meters), Brian Zitterkopf (So., Pace, Fla.) finishing the heptathlon in fifth with 4,413 points and Miles Snelgrove (Fr., Lebanon, Conn.) placing sixth in the long jump (22'6.5"; 6.87 meters).
Matthew Hanley (Sr., Rapid City, S.D.) also posted the third-fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles during Saturday's prelims in 8.32 seconds.
The Mids closed out the day with a season-best, IC4A-qualifying 4x800-meter relay effort. The quartet of David Ash (Jr., Williamston, Mich.), Matthew Evers (So., Bellevue, Neb.), Dominic Della Pelle (So., Kennet Square, Pa.) and George Stevenson (So., Twinsburg, Ohio) clocked in with a time of 7:37.06, finishing just .02 seconds behind Colgate to land third-place points.
The third and final day of action picks back up on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. with a trio of field events: the pole vault, triple jump and shot put. The running events are slated to get underway at 12 noon with the mile run, where Cody Rome enters as the favorite at 4:05.48.
Team Standings after Day Two (Through six scored events)Pl. Tm. Pts.1. Bucknell 572. Army 473. Navy 374. American 145. Lafayette 136. Colgate 8 Lafayette 88. Holy Cross 2
DAY THREE - Sunday, February 21Field Events10:00 a.m. - Pole Vault, Triple Jump, Shot Put
Running Events12:00 p.m. - Mile12:30 p.m. - 60m Hurdles12:40 p.m. - 60m Dash1:00 p.m. - 400m Dash1:25 p.m. - 500m Dash1:50 p.m. - 800m Run2:20 p.m. - 1000m Run2:40 p.m. - 200m Dash3:00 p.m. - 3000m Run3:50 p.m. - DMR4:20 p.m. - 4 x 400m Relay
5:00 p.m. - Awards Ceremony
# GO NAVY! #
