April 11, 2009

Complete Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's track team won 13 of 19 events, producing seven 1-2 sweeps on its way to topping Army, 116-87, on a blustery Saturday afternoon at Ingram Field.

With the victory, the Midshipmen women claim their fourth outdoor N-Star in the last five years and put the finishing touches on its seventh indoor and outdoor Star Meet sweep of Army in school history.

Moreover, it is the sixth time in which Navy has pulled off the trifecta, besting the Black Knights during the fall cross country season and then claiming the N-Star in both the winter and spring track dual competitions.

"Our girls really gave a special effort today," said Navy head coach Carla Criste. "It was obviously not the best case scenario with the weather, but we never let it affect us. I feel especially proud of what our seniors accomplished today. All season long it has been our youngsters that have really pushed us, but today in their last home meets, our upperclassmen really were the stars."

Navy dominated the action on the track on the afternoon, posting the top time in 9 of 11 running events, led by senior Debbi Choi (Clarksville, Md.) and junior Amy Watson (Hampstead, Md.), who each earned a pair of victories.

Competing in her final home meet, Choi came up huge, churning out her first two collegiate wins in the 100m (12.81) and 200m dashes (26.69). After the meet, Criste was enthralled with the efforts of the Clarksville, Md. native.

"If you want to talk about unsung heroes, the first place you should look is at Debbi," said Criste, who with the win improves her all-time record to 19-14-1 against the Black Knights. "Both her and Angelique (Martin) didn't make the team as plebes, but they persevered, worked hard and now as seniors, they are our two captains and our leaders. Debbi really rose to the occasion today with those two wins in the sprints."

Watson, meanwhile, led Navy sweeps in both the 1,500m (4:44.55) and 5,000m (17:35.26) races. Sophomore Katie Rentz (San Diego, Calif.) took second in the 1,500m, finishing just .01 seconds off Watson's pace in 4:44.56, while junior Lexa Gass (Crescent, Pa.) was the 5K runnerup after crossing 17:49.46.

Navy also recorded the top-two efforts in the 400m, 800m and 3,000m steeplechase. In the 400m, junior Abby Gesecki (Nanticoke, Pa.) and freshman standout Mansfield Murph (Mechanicsville, Va.) teamed up to take down Army standout sprinter Ebony Thomas and earn first- and second-place laurels with times of 57.55 and 58.17, respectively.

Freshman Jess Palacio (Sparks, Nev.) posted a convincing win in the 800m, finishing in 2:17.76 - nearly a nine full seconds ahead of Army's top performer in the event. Junior Kayla Sax (Richland, Wash.) and senior Allie Moreland (Ocean City, N.J.) took second and third behind Navy's talented freshman.

Junior Abby Gesecki won the 400m dash, going 1-2 with freshman Mansfield Murph on Saturday

The Mids would also dominate in the steeplechase as the senior duo Carey Young (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Maureen Dooley (Durham, Conn.) went 1-2. Amidst adverse conditions, Young ran the second-best time of her career with a first-place time of 11:09.16, while Dooley crossed in second with an 11:15.35 effort.

"Carey has been a huge get for us," said Criste. "She came over after a great career with the soccer team and really has become a tremendous contributor. She scored for us at the indoor league meet and continues to get better and better."

The Mids wrapped up a successful day of running events with wins in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

In the former event, Navy freshmen Ashley Aitken (Yuma, Ariz.) and Colleen McFadden (Ft. Washington, Md.) teamed up with junior Krystina Johnson (Savannah, Ga.) and sophomore Ashley Boykin (Radcliff, Ky.) to run a season-best winning time of 48.90, edging Army's foursome by a mere .04 seconds.

"We really came out and ran our tails off in that 4x100," said Criste. "Entering the meet, that was a race we were projected to be behind in, but our girls really stepped it up."

Navy produced four victories in the field event portion of the meet, highlighted by a sweep of the long jump led by senior Katie Berkey (Tempe, Ariz.). Berkey took first-place honors with a season-best 17-6.25 (5.36m) effort, followed by sophomore Ashley Bucholz in second (17-5; 5.31m).

Junior Jessica Schlaegel (Nashport, Ohio), sophomore Janet Von Eiff (San Diego, Calif.) and freshman Christine Scales (Monte Sereno, Calif.) each added field event wins for the Mids.

Schlaegel matched her season-best effort to take the pole vault (10-6; 3.20m), Von Eiff won the shot put (44-0; 13.41m) and Scales cleared the bar at 5-3 (1.60m) to win the high jump.

The Midshipmen women head to New Jersey for the Princeton Invitational on Friday, April 17. Navy will also send a contingent of athletes the following day to Emmitsburg, Md. to compete at the Kloiber Invitational.

Notes:

* With the win, Navy continues to close the gap in the all-time outdoor Star Meet series as Army now leads 13-10. The Mids' 29-point victory is their second-largest margin of victory over the Black Knights in school history. During the 2000 season, Navy topped Army by 33 points in a 118-85 decision.

* After completing its fourth-consecutive undefeated indoor regular season (13-0), Navy has now opened the spring outdoor slate with four-straight dual-scored victories. The Mids now own an impressive 78-1 mark in regular season scored meets (including both indoor and outdoor) dating back to the 2004-05 season.