Dec. 9, 2008

Patriot League Indoor Track Weekly Release (12.9.08)

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - After achieving a new personal best and IC4A-qualifying mark in the weight throw during last Friday's indoor season opener, third-year thrower Mark Van Orden (Morris Plains, N.J.) has garnered his second career Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week award, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Van Orden was impressive in his 2008-09 debut, topping the field in the weight throw with a career-best 59'2-3/4 (18.05 meters) effort. His toss surpassed his previous-best distance of 56'6-1/2" (17.23 meters), which he established at last February's Patriot League Championship.

"Mark kicked off the season with a tremendous effort," said Navy head coach Stephen Cooksey. "He has worked hard all throughout the fall and we're looking forward to big things from him as the season continues."

The New Jersey native, who received second-team all-league laurels in the event as a sophomore, led a 1-2-3 Navy finish, as senior Christopher Bordino (Gastonia, N.C.), the reigning league champion in the event, and junior Tyrell Arment (Wamblee, S.D.) finished in second and third, respectively.

Van Orden and Bordino were neck-and-neck throughout, pushing each other in a spirited competition that resulted in a pair of IC4A-qualifying throws for the two upperclassmen.

While Bordino's 58'3-3/4" (17.77 meters) toss narrowly missed his personal-best mark, the fourth-year thrower's early-season effort did surpass the distance (57'4-3/4"; 17.49 m) that gave him the conference crown in the event a year ago.

"It was great seeing both Mark and Chris perform this well this early in the year," said assistant coach Chris Campbell, who works primarily with the Midshipmen throwers. "They went back-and-forth trying to top one another and, in the end, I think their competitive nature really pushed them to those performances."

Navy will be off during final exams and the semester break before returning to action on Jan. 10 to play host to a five-team field featuring American, VCU and a pair of Ivy League squads in Penn and Princeton.

Patriot League Men's Track and Field Weekly Awards (12/9/08)
Track: Evan Novakowski, Bucknell
Field: Mark Van Orden, Navy
Rookie: Dan Mularz, Bucknell
### GO NAVY! ###