Mids Head to West Point to Compete for Patriot League Championship

Mids Head to West Point to Compete for Patriot League Championship
Navy has placed among the top-three schools in six-straight appearances


Junior David Ash and the Mids head to West Point this weekend



Feb. 17, 2010

2009-10 Navy Performance Lists
Patriot League Performance Lists

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's track team heads to Gillis Field House in West Point, N.Y., to compete at the 2010 Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championships this Friday through Sunday.

Navy enters the week ranked eighth in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic regional rankings. The Midshipmne, who have racked up a total of 32 IC4A Championship entries among 12 different events this winter, are one of two Patriot League programs recognized among the top-10 in their respective regions, along with Bucknell at No. 7 in the Mid-Atlantic. Reigning Patriot League champion Army owns the next-highest ranking at 12th in the Northeast region.

Earlier this season, the Navy men were picked to finish second in the Patriot League preseason poll according to a vote of conference head coaches. The Mids picked up four first-place votes and 87 points to edge third-place Bucknell. Army, who won the league's indoor title last winter, was tabbed as the favorite, receiving 96 points and 12 of the 16 first-place nods.

Navy is coming off a third-place showing at the 2009 indoor league meet in Annapolis, where it produced three individual champions and totaled 103 team points. The Mids have captured the conference's indoor title in three of the last six seasons (2004, 2005 & 2008), placing among the top-three squads during each of those appearances.

In order to sustain its recent string of success at the league meet, Navy will once again rely on its bevy of talent in the mid-distance and distance events. Navy stacks up rather well against its conference foes in the six running events between 500 and 5,000 meters and will enter the weekend with the top seed in three of those races (800, Mile and 5,000).

The Mids will look towards Dominic Della Pelle (So., Kennett Square, Pa.), Matthew Evers (So., Bellevue, Neb.), Andrew Hanko (Jr., Montville, N.J.) and Cody Rome (So., Eagle, Idaho) to lead what is a deep group full of point-scoring threats.

Entering the weekend, Della Pelle, the runner-up in last year's mile run, ranks among the league's top five in the mile (4th, 4:10.64) and 3,000 (8:19.44). Evers leads Navy's contingent of half-milers, which also includes David Ash (Jr., Williamston, Mich.) and George Stevenson (So., Twinsburg, Ohio), as the top seed in the 800 (1:52.52) and at No. 3 in the 500 (1:04.72). Hanko, meanwhile, is the returning conference champion in the 3,000 (he currently ranks third in the Patriot League) and the top seed among several Navy contenders in the 5,000 (14:21.50). Rome is the favorite in the mile (4:05.48) and should be a factor in the 1,000 as well where he is currently fifth at 2:28.05.

Navy again stacks up well in the relays, owning the fastest conference times to date in the 4x800 (7:48.91) and DMR (9:56.81). At last year's meet in Annapolis, Navy finished as the runner-up in the 4x400, 4x800 and distance medley relays.

The Mids are led in the field events by indoor team captain Mark Van Orden (Sr., Morris Plains, N.J.), the returning champion and the favorite in the 35-pound weight throw at 60'1" (18.31 meters).

Navy has gone 1-2 in the weight throw at each of the last two league meets, and will rely on Tyrell Arment (Sr., Wamblee, S.D.), Nic Porter (Jr., Orleans, Ind.) Chris Ricks (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio) to provide scoring depth behind Van Orden in this year's competition.

In the shot put, Chris Boniwell (So., San Diego, Calif.) should be in the point-scoring mix, where he is currently ranked 6th at 50' 4" (15.34 meters).

While for the most part Navy's depth in the sprints and jumps lags behind the conference's frontrunners, the Mids do have a few gems and are not short on potential scorers.

In the high jump, both Joshua Houston (So., Daphne, Ala.) and Brian Zitterkopf (So., Pace, Fla.) have been Navy's top performers and enter the competition with a share of the No. 2 seed at 6' 8¼" (2.04 meters).

Highly-touted newcomer Miles Snelgrove (Fr., Lebanon, Conn.) stacks up well against the league's long jumpers at 22' 9¼" (6.94 meters), while Paul Neidhardt (So., Lawrenceville, Ga.) has also proven himself capable in the pole vault at 15' 3" (4.65 meters).

Fresh off posting a season-best and IC4A time in the 60 hurdles over the weekend (8.22), Matthew Hanley (Rapid City, S.D.), the runner-up in the event as a sophomore, enters the meet ranked fourth in the conference.

Navy was shutout a year ago at 60, 200 and 400 meters, and will pin its hopes that among Travis Fanning (Fr., Cypress, Texas), Alex Jackson (So., Elmhurst, Ill.) and Keegan Ryan (Fr., Carlsbad, Calif.), they may find an answer at the latter two of those events.

Following this weekend's championship action, the Midshipmen will return home to host Army in the annual Star Meet on Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Wesley A. Brown Field House.

Navy at the Patriot League Indoor Championships (Year-By-Year)
Year Result
1994 2nd/121.33
1995 3rd/95.0
1996 6th/34.0
1997 6th/33.0
1998 5th/70.0
2000 5th/68.0
2001 4th/79.5
2002 6th/54.0
2003 8th/14.0
2004 1st/177.75
2005 1st/196.0
2006 2nd/141.0
2007 2nd/140.5
2008 1st/188.5
2009 3rd/103.0

2010 PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
DAY ONE - Friday, February 19
12:00 p.m. - Heptathlon (60m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump)

DAY TWO - Saturday, February 20
8:45 a.m. - Heptathlon (60m Hurdles, Pole Vault, 1000m)

Field Events
11:00 a.m. - Weight Throw, High Jump
2:00 p.m. - Long Jump

Running Events
1:00 p.m. - 60m Hurdles (prelims)
1:30 p.m. - 60m Dash (prelims)
2:00 p.m. - 5000m Run (unseeded)
2:45 p.m. - 60m Hurdles (semis)
3:05 p.m. - 60m Dash (semis)
3:25 p.m. - 5000m Run (seeded)
4:15 p.m. - 200m Dash (prelims)
4:55 p.m. - 4 x 800m Relay

DAY THREE - Sunday, February 21
Field Events
10:00 a.m. - Pole Vault, Triple Jump, Shot Put

Running Events
12:00 p.m. - Mile
12:30 p.m. - 60m Hurdles
12:40 p.m. - 60m Dash
1:00 p.m. - 400m Dash
1:25 p.m. - 500m Dash
1:50 p.m. - 800m Run
2:20 p.m. - 1000m Run
2:40 p.m. - 200m Dash
3:00 p.m. - 3000m Run
3:50 p.m. - DMR
4:20 p.m. - 4 x 400m Relay

5:00 p.m. - Awards Ceremony

## GO NAVY! ##

Courtesy Navy