March 6, 2010
BOSTON - Navy's indoor team captain Mark Van Orden (Sr., Morris Plain, N.J.) placed third in the weight throw, while second-year distance runners Dominic Della Pelle (So., Kennett Square, Pa.) and Cody Rome (So., Eagle, Idaho) each qualified for the finals in their respective events to highlight the Midshipmen's efforts on the opening day of the IC4A Championship at Boston University on Saturday.
With four events complete, Albany holds the early lead with 15.5 points, followed by Manhattan's 14.5 points and Syracuse and Temple's 13 points. Van Orden's third-place showing earned six team points for Navy, which sits in 11th headed into Sunday's full slate of competition.
Van Orden's top toss of the day went for 61'7.5" (18.78 meters), as Navy's senior throwing standout garnered All-East honors for the second-consecutive year. A year ago, the Morris Plains, N.J. product finished fourth in the weight throw at the IC4A meet.
Della Pelle won his heat in 2:26.58 and posted the fastest 1,000-meter time on the afternoon to highlight Navy's efforts on the track. He will be joined in tomorrow's final by Jeremy Haney (So., Palmyra, Va.), who clocked in with the ninth-fastest time of the day in a season-best 2:28.07.
Rome also turned in an admirable effort, taking second in his heat of the mile run by just 0.30 seconds to Albany's Jonathan Moore. Rome posted a time of 4:05.93, his second-best mile of the winter and the third-fastest among Saturday's field.
In the 4x800 relay, the Navy foursome of George Stevenson (So., Twinsburg, Ohio), David Ash (Jr., Williamston, Mich.), Matt Lethbridge (Fr., Fayetteville, Ga.) and Matthew Evers (So., Bellevue, Neb.) qualified for Sunday's final with a time of 7:37.71, the Mids' second-fastest 4x800 time this season.
Sunday's action resumes at 11:30 am with the shot put, while the action on the track is set to get underway at approximately 12:55 pm when the finals of the men's mile are to be held.
Full event-by-event results from today's action, as well as live results of Sunday's finals are available at:
http://www.lancertiming.com/results/winter10/IC4A/index.htm
# GO NAVY! #
