Feb. 9, 2012

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's indoor track and field team (8-2) will send 20 athletes to compete at Clemson's Indoor Track & Field Complex (200m flat track) on Friday and Saturday in the Tiger Paw Invitational. In addition to Clemson, the Tiger Paw field will also feature Georgia, the Citadel, Coastal Carolina, Furman, Emory and many other schools. Georgia will send a condensed squad and is currently ranked No. 22 in the nation. This is a non-team scored meet. Live results will be available.

Friday's events will begin at 3:30 pm and Saturday's session will begin at 11:00 am. Navy has athletes entered into 10 events. Navy will have entries in every running event from the 60m to the 800m and also the 60m hurdles. The Mids will not have any distance runners in action this weekend. Additionally, Navy will be traveling with its vertical jumpers (high jump and pole vault) and throwers (shot put and weight throw).

Navy is coming off a 98-83 defeat of Army in the indoor Star Meet last week and also has its sights on defending its league title at the Patriot League Championship next weekend. The Mids won 10 of 17 events to knock off the Black Knights for the first time since 2008. The senior class stepped up in their final indoor Star Meet, taking first place in eight of Navy's nine individual victories on the day.

Senior Chris Boniwell won the shot put at the indoor Star Meet with a personal record of 54-5½ (16.60m) and senior Paul Neidhardt matched his PR in the pole vault with a first-place clear of 16-2¾ (4.95m). Additionally, senior Josh Houston matched his PR and hit the IC4A standard in the high jump of 6-8¼ (2.04m) against Army. All three field athletes are scheduled to compete at Clemson this weekend.

Freshman Daniel Gallien was the only non-senior to win an individual event for Navy at the indoor Star Meet. Gallien won the 400m dash with a time of 49.26, his best time of the year.

Navy will seek a second straight Patriot League Indoor Championship at Bucknell from February 17-19. Navy won the final four events of the championship to overcome a 32-point deficit to Army and win the team title in 2011.

Navy's Scheduled Entries

60m Dash
Brett Bogaard, Jalen Elrod
200m Dash
Brett Bogaard, Jalen Elrod
400m Dash
Alex Jackson, Daniel Gallien
500m Run
Joshua Kingsland, Ryan Pajor
800m Run
Matt Evers, Lucas Connelly, Joshua Shaw
60m Hurdles
Mitch Simmonds
High Jump
Joshua Houston, Rand Montermini
Pole Vault
Paul Neidhardt, Ryan Kochert, Mark Vetere
Shot Put
Chris Boniwell, Zack Duncavage
Weight Throw
Chris Ricks, Brandon Swindler, Billy Grammer