April 28, 2010

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's track & field team will head to Bucknell's Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa., this Friday and Saturday to compete at the 2010 Patriot League Outdoor Championships.

Navy has finished third or better in 11 of its first 12 visits to the Patriot League Championships. Last season, the Midshipmen placed second, crowning two individual champions, along with five runner-up performances and a total of 119 points.

Returning from that meet are reigning 400 champion Abby Gesecki (Sr./Nanticoke, Pa.), 10K runner-up Lexa Gass (Sr./Crescent, Pa.) and Arian Davis (So./Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), who placed second in the heptathlon. Gesecki also won the 500 at this winter's indoor meet, while Davis was again at her best during the championship season with a second-place finish in the pentathlon.

Navy, picked second in the preseason poll, finished the regular season with a perfect 3-0 dual-scored meet record, claimed the N-Star and totaled five ECAC Championship entries.

Gesecki, a two-time Patriot League champion, heads into this weekend as the No. 2 seed in the 800 (2:14.16), behind only sophomore teammate Jess Palacio's 2:12.73. She is also third in the 400 (57.78), where Navy holds three of the top five performances on the spring. Freshman Arabia Littlejohn, who has produced three victories on the spring, owns the top time to date of 57.34 seconds.

Palacio is in the midst of a standout second season at the Academy. After winning the mile at this winter's Patriot League Championship, she has established a pair of new school records in the mile and 1,500, while also posting a combined four individual victories in Navy's Star Meet sweep of archrival Army. Headed into this weekend, she holds the top seed in both the 800 and 1,500 (4:25.26), the latter of which she is the favorite in by a margin of 9.30 seconds.

The Mids will also head into this weekend's meet at Bucknell as the owner of the conference's fastest 4x100 (48.30) and 4x400 (3:55.16) relay times, both of which were established last Thursdays during Navy's appearance at the Penn Relays.

In the field events, Navy projects to have great scoring potential in the high jump led by senior Krystina Johnson and freshman Kristin Smith. Johnson took over as the school record-holder in the high jump in the team's outdoor opener, clearing 5'8.75" (1.75m) - the top effort to date in the Patriot League. Smith, meanwhile, has been nipping at her heels, most recently achieving a PR of 5'8" (1.73 meters) at the Penn Relays. Both efforts met the ECAC standard and likely will garner the Mids' jumpers a spot in the East Preliminary Round of the NCAA Women's Track and Field Championships in Greensboro on May 27-29.

In the horizontal jumps, Navy will look towards junior Ashley Bucholz to lead the way. Bucholz currently ranks second in the conference in the triple jump (37'10.5"; 11.54 meters) and is third among the league's long jumpers (18'2.5"; 5.55 meters).

Senior outdoor team captain Mia Blundetto and sophomore Amanda Phelps will lead the Mids in the hammer throw. Both are ECAC qualifiers and rank among the top-three in the event this spring behind Bucknell standout Chelsey Musante. Phelps also projects to be among those vying to score in the shot put.

Following this weekend's conference championship, the Midshipmen will head to Princeton, N.J., for the ECAC Championship on May 14-16.

FRIDAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Field Events
9:30 a.m. Javelin
12 p.m. Pole Vault
3:30 p.m. Long Jump
4 p.m. Hammer Throw

Multi Events
10:30 a.m. Heptathlon - 100 hurdles
11:30 a.m. Heptathlon - High Jump
1:30 p.m. Heptathlon - Shot Put
2:45 p.m. Heptathlon - 200

Track Events
2 p.m. 100 hurdle trials
2:30 p.m. 100 trials
3:15 p.m. 4x800 relay
4 p.m. 200 trials
4:35 p.m. 10,000

SATURDAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Field Events
11:15 a.m. Shot Put
11:15 a.m. High Jump
1:45 p.m. Triple Jump
3 p.m. Discus

Multi Events
9:15 a.m. Heptathlon - Long Jump
10:45 a.m. Heptathlon - Javelin
12:15 p.m. Heptathlon - 800

Track Events
11:15 a.m. 3,000 steeplechase
12:30 p.m. 4x100 relay
12:50 p.m. 1,500m
1:30 p.m. 100 hurdles
1:40 p.m. 400m
2 p.m. 100m
2:10 p.m. 800m
2:45 p.m. 400 hurdles
3:30 p.m 200m
3:45 p.m. 5,000m
5:05 p.m. 4x400m

## Go Navy! ##