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May 15, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Two weeks after winning the Patriot League Outdoor Championship for the first time in school history, the Navy men's track & field team will head up to Princeton University for the IC4A Championship this Friday through Sunday.

The Midshipmen are coming off a 20-point victory on its home turf in the Patriot League Championship, becoming the first team to knock off Army since the 1991 season. Navy produced a perfect 10-0 record in dual-scored meets this spring, highlighted by a 118-85 win over Army in West Point on April 11.

At last year's IC4A Championship in Princeton, N.J., Navy came up with a strong showing on the final day to finish in 23rd place - the highest finish among all Patriot League schools at the meet.

For the Midshipmen to make a jump in this year's standings, they will turn to their throwing corps that has nine entries in four events.

One of Navy's strongest events comes in the javelin throw, as two Mids have already qualified for the NCAA East Region Championship and another will take aim at the standard this weekend. Bo Lawson (Sr./Newton, N.J.) leads the way with his season-best toss of 207'6" (63.26 meters), followed closely by Devan Clark's (Fr./Lorton, Va.) 205'4" (62.60 meters) performance. Tim Gruber (Grove City, Pa.) joins Lawson and Clark in the event, as his best throw of the year came last month with a distance of 190'3" (58.00 meters).

Another throwing event featuring three members from Navy - two of which have surpassed the NCAA regional standard - is the discus throw. Andre Barber (Sr./Carrollton, Texas) delivered Navy's best mark of the year, an impressive mark of 171'2" (52.19 meters). Classmate and Patriot League Field Athlete-of-the-Meet Darryl Hunter (Sr./Des Moines, Iowa) also bested the NCAA mark with his toss of 170'2" (51.88 meters), followed by Tyrell Arment's (So./Wamblee, S.D.) 160'9" (49.01 meters) performance. Hunter and Barber will also partake in the shot put, as Hunter's distance of 57'5-3/4" (17.52 meters) went beyond the regional standard and Barber has delivered a throw of 53'4-1/4" (16.26 meters).

Mark Van Orden (So./Morris Plains, N.J.) earned a spot in the hammer throw this weekend with his NCAA regional-qualifying 195'1" (59.47 meters) effort. Kraegen Bramer rounds out Navy's contingent in the field events, as he will compete in the pole vault after clearing 15'9" (4.80 meters) in the league championship.

On the track, Navy will have Paul Harris (Sr./Fairburn, Ga.) and Craig Meekins (Sr./Baldwin, N.Y.) partake in the 800-meter run. Harris's best showing of the year had him crossing the finish line in 1:49.29, just 0.06-second ahead of Meekins's 1:49.35 clocking two weeks ago in the Patriot League Championship.

John Olsen (Sr./Staten Island, N.Y.) produced a NCAA regional qualifying time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Penn Relays, as he finished in 8:58.31. Will Ricks (Sr./Hopewell, Va.) advanced to the IC4A Championship with his 48.09-second showing in the 400-meter dash in the league championship. In that same meet, Andrew Grant (Jr./Athens, Ga.) completed the 1,500-meter run in 3:49.87 to qualify for this weekend's action.

Following this weekend's championship, the Midshipmen will head down to Tallahassee, Fla., for the NCAA East Region Championship on May 30-31. Qualifiers from that meet will advance to the NCAA Championship in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 11-14.