Dec. 2, 2008

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Junior Amy Watson (Hampstead, Md.) won a pair of events and a slew of underclassmen turned in terrific efforts in their collegiate debuts as the Navy women's track and field team topped the five-team field in Tuesday's season-opening and inaugural meet at the Wesley A. Brown Field House.

Navy posted the top performance in eight of the 16 total events en route to dual-scoring victories over American (264-64), Mount St. Mary's (237-160), Towson (227-194) and Ursinus College (262-25).

The Midshipmen open the year with a perfect 4-0 mark and have now recorded 27 straight indoor dual-meet victories dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season. Overall, the Navy women are now an impressive 46-1 in regular season dual-meets (including both indoor and outdoor) over that span.

Fresh off her appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships (where she finished 153rd overall), Watson picked up where she left off in Tuesday's lidlifter, winning both the 3k and 5k races.

Watson opened the track portion of the meet by running a blistering 17:08.26 to win the 5,000. Her time eclipsed the ECAC qualifying standard (17:33.64) by more than 25 seconds, while also surpassing her previous career-best indoor showing (17:30:45; established at last year's ECAC meet) by more than 22 ticks.

"Coming off a stellar fall cross country season, for Amy to perform the way she did and already earn herself a spot at March's ECAC meet - was truly outstanding," said Navy head coach Carla Criste. "Across the board, we posted a lot of fast times for this juncture of the year and overall, I was very pleased with the performances we received tonight.

"Our underclassmen were absolutely outstanding, particularly a number of our freshmen, who were competing in their first-ever collegiate meets. We have a strong young crew and I am excited about seeing what they can do as the season progresses."

Junior Erica Ziel (Saginaw, Mich.) joined Watson with an ECAC-qualifying time of her own in the 5,000, finishing in third place in 17:21.83. In the 3,000, it was Watson, along with freshman Marina McGrail (Manchester, Vt.), who would claim the top-two spots with times of 10:31.87 and 10:32.33, respectively.

Freshman Jess Palacio (Sun Valley, Nev.) made a sparkling debut, winning the 800-meter run with an impressive 2:19.92 clocking. Senior teammate Allie Moreland (Ocean City, N.J.) was the next runner to cross the finish line, taking second in 2:25.40.

Freshman Mansfield Murph (Mechanicsville, Va.) was the Mids' top performer in both the 200- and 400-meter dash. Murph took third in the 200 (26.71), while finishing second in the 400 (58.89).

Navy's talented cast of underclassmen also made its presence felt in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. First year sprinter Ashley Aitken (Yuma, Ariz.) was just one-tenth of a second off the pace in the 60 hurdles, crossing in second with a time of 9.25. Meanwhile, Alexis Blackellar (Sierra Vista, Ariz.) delivered the Midhsipmen's top effort in the 60-meter sprint, finishing third with an 8.19 showing.

Sophomore Katie Rentz (San Diego, Calif.) also turned in a strong effort, earning runner-up honors in the mile with a time of 5:13.04.

In the pole vault, junior Jessica Schlaegel (Nashport, Ohio) teamed up with freshman Christine Scales (Monte Sereno, Calif.) to lead a 1-2 Navy effort in the event. Schlaegel topped the field with a clearance of 10'10" (3.30 meters), while Scales, as part of an impressive debut, took second-place honors with a height of 10'4" (3.15 meters).

Earlier in the evening, the 5-foot-7 rookie and native Californian recorded the first individual event victory of her collegiate career, winning the high jump with a leap of 5'5" (1.65 meters). Senior Katie Berkey (Tempe, Ariz.) and junior Krystina Johnson (Savannah, Ga.) each cleared 5'3" (1.60 meters) to finish in a three-way tie for second in the event.

Sophomore Joy Nameth (Walden, Colo.) got off to an impressive start as well, earning runner-up honors in the shot put (37'6") and turning in a third-place effort in the weight throw (43'3-1/4") to pace the women's efforts in the throwing events.

Navy's 4x800-meter relay squad closed out the meet by coasting to victory by nearly a 10-second margin with its 9:41.59 clocking.

The Midshipmen return to action in a month when they travel to the Delaware Invitational on Jan. 9, in Newark, Del.

Notes: The Mids will host three more indoor meets, including the the three-day, 2009 Patriot League Indoor Championships from February 20-22, at the 140,000-square foot, $52 million Wesley A. Brown Field House. The state-of-the-art facility features a 200-meter hydraulic banked track (one of four such tracks in the U.S.), dual pole vault/jumping runways, dual throwing areas and a scenic view of the Severn River.

Dual Meet Scores
American 96, Ursinus 36
Navy 264, American 64
Navy 237, Mount St. Mary's 160
Navy 227, Towson 194
Navy 262, Ursinus 25
Mount St. Mary's 206, American 84
Mount St. Mary's 206, Ursinus 29
Towson 219, Mount St. Mary's168
Towson 233, American 81
Towson 244, Ursinus 32

Dual Meet Records
Navy: 4-0
Towson: 3-1
Mount St. Mary's: 2-2
American: 1-3
Ursinus: 0-4