May 27, 2010
1,500 Results | Hammer Throw Results | Javelin Results
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Junior Andrew Hanko (Montville, N.J.) finished fourth in his heat to advance to the quarterfinals in the 1,500-meter run, highlighting the Navy men's track team's efforts at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds on Thursday at North Carolina A&T's Irwin Bell Track.
Hanko turned in a time of 3:50.03 in the first of the four 1,500 heats contested on the afternoon, earning a spot in Saturday evening's quarterfinal round. The top-five athletes from each 12-man quarterfinal race, along with the two next best-times, will secure bids to nationals.
Sophomore Cody Rome (Eagle, Idaho) competed in the same heat alongside Hanko and narrowly missed the cut in seventh place (24th overall) with a 3:51.13 clocking.
"It was an interesting race," said Hanko, a six-time Patriot League champion. "We went out real slow which was a bit of a surprise, considering the No. 1 seed (Auburn's Felix Kiboiywo) was in our heat. Cody made a huge move with about 600 meters to go and I just tried to follow him the best I could. I was fortunate to hang on and am thrilled to be able to get out there again on Saturday and try to earn a spot at nationals."
Thursday afternoon also brought to a close the sterling throwing career of Navy senior Mark Van Orden (Morris Plains, N.J.), who finished four spots out of an NCAA Championship berth with a 16th place, 194'4" (59.25 meters) showing.
Van Orden, who was making his third consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, concludes his track career as a five-time Patriot League champion and four-time All-East competitor. His PR toss of 204'7" (62.35 meters), achieved two weekends ago in a runner-up effort at the IC4A Championships, ranks as the 10th-best hammer throw effort in school history. Additionally, that performance put the Morris Plains, N.J. is some elite company, as he will graduate ranked second on the school's all-time hammer throw ledger, behind only former All-American Ted Bregar ('74).
Sophomore Chris Ricks (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) placed 46th in the javelin throw on Friday afternoon. Ricks' top throw of the day came on his first effort, a 173'6" (52.90 meters) toss. It was the first regional appearance for Navy's second-year thrower.
This year for the first time, two regional competitions - the East Region meet in Greensboro and the West Region meet in Austin, Texas - are serving as qualifying rounds for the national championship meet, to be held June 9-12 at the University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field. The top 12 athletes in each event at the East and West regional will earn a trip to Eugene.
The Midshipmen are looking to make their 36th appearance at the NCAA Championship and first since Paul Harris ('08) was a qualifier in the 800-meter run in 2007.
Live updates throughout the weekend will be available on NavySports.com(.)
Saturday, May 291,500m Qtrs. 6:30 pm Andrew Hanko
## GO NAVY! ##
