Feb. 10, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.- Patriot League track and field squads will be kicking things into high gear as they head into the final weekend of competition before the Patriot League Championships. Student-athletes from Army, Bucknell and Navy all earned M-F Athletic Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors.

Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Release- 2.10.09

M-F Athletic Male Track Performer of the Week

Torre Santiago, Army So., Hope Mills, N.C.

Santiago earned a first-place finish and qualified for IC4As in the mile at the Army-Navy Star Meet last week, running a 4:11.36. The sophomore led an Army sweep of top-scoring positions in the mile run that extended Army's lead by five points early in the meet. Army defeated Navy, 107-74.

M-F Athletic Female Track Performer of the Week

Megan Hathaway, Bucknell Sr., North Tonawanda, N.Y.

Hathaway is now third in Bucknell program history and an ECAC qualifier in the 800m run with her time of 2:12.13 at the Sykes-Sabock Cup Challenge. The senior finished the event in fifth place.

M-F Athletic Male Field Performer of the Week

Mark Van Orden, Navy Jr., Morris Plains, N.J.

Van Orden uncorked a career-best toss and IC4A-qualifier of 18.60m (61' 0 1/4") to lead a Navy sweep of the weight throw in the Star Meet against Army. The junior has met the IC4A qualifying standard in each of the team's five outings this season.

M-F Athletic Female Field Performer of the Week

Rebecca Frey, Bucknell So., Bethlehem, Pa.

Frey qualified for the ECAC Championship with a pole vault of 3.67m (12' 0 1/2"), good for sixth-place at the Sykes-Sabock Cup Challenge at Penn State last week.

M-F Athletic Male Rookie of the Week

Michael Hutchins, Army Fr., St. Charles, Mo.

Hutchins qualified for IC4As in both the high jump and long jump in last week's Army-Navy Star Meet. Hutchins' high jump of 2.08m (6' 9 3/4") surpassed his collegiate personal best by .14m. The freshman's long jump of 7.17m (23' 6 1/4") also surpassed his personal best by .26m.

M-F Athletic Female Rookie of the Week

Jari Ross, Army Fr., San Antonio, Texas

Ross surpassed the ECAC standard in the triple jump against Navy with a jump of 11.90m (39' 0 1/2"). Ross now ranks sixth all-time at West Point in the triple jump.

Patriot League Notebook

Final Weekend Of Meets Before Patriot League Championships

Patriot League track and field squads will be kicking things into high gear as they head into the final weekend of competition before the Patriot League Championships. On Friday, the Colgate women and Lafayette head to the NYC Armory to compete in the Lafayette-Rider Invite. The Colgate men's team takes on Boston University, while the Navy men's team heads to Indiana to participate in the Hoosier Hills Invite. Both Holy Cross and Army will compete on Friday and Saturday at the St. Valentine's Classic.

On Saturday, Bucknell hosts the Bucknell Winter Classic, while Lehigh heads to New York for the Virginia Duals.

For More Information

IC4A/ECAC and NCAA Indoor Qualifying standards can be found on the Track and Field page on the Patriot League website at www.PatriotLeague.com.

A Few More Hurdles to Go

The Navy men and Bucknell women will defend their titles at the 2009 Patriot League Championship Meet, to be held Fri., Feb. 20 through Sun., Feb. 22 at Navy's Wesley Brown Fieldhouse.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles competed at the team unscored New Balance Invitational last weekend. American has no scheduled events prior to the Patriot League Championships.

Army Army's Ebony Thomas had a hand in scoring 15 of Army's 88 points, but the women's team fell short against archrival Navy, 92-88, at the annual Star Meet. The men's team beat Navy, 107-74, at the meet. The Black Knights will compete in the St. Valentine's Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Bucknell Bucknell's Andrew Yehl broke his own school record in 60m hurdles twice at last weekend's Sykes-Sabock Challenge with times of 8.20 and 8.16. The Bucknell men finished ninth of nine in the Challenge, while the women finished 10th of 11. The Bison host the Bucknell Winter Classic on Saturday.

Colgate Colgate's Curry Knox ran a personal-best 55m dash time of 7.18 to break the school record she set two weeks ago at last weekend's team unscored Syracuse Invitational. Tim Metivier nearly qualified for IC4As in the 500m dash with a time of 1:05.82 at the Giegenack Invite. The men's team competes at Boston University on Friday, while the women's team next competes at the Lafayette-Rider Invite.

Holy Cross Dannielle Meder and Stephen Mandravelis each qualified for the New England Indoor Championships in the 55m hurdles and weight throw, respectively, at Maine last weekend. The women's team won their dual with Maine, while the men's team finished third of three teams. The Crusaders will compete at the St. Valentine's Classic this weekend.

Lafayette Matt DeBlander qualified for IC4As in the 1000m run with a time of 2:29.37 at the team unscored New Balance College Invite. Jessica Buzzell finished ninth in the long jump at the meet. The Leopards will next compete at the Lafayette-Rider Invite this weekend.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks split squads last weekend, with some competing at the team unscored Princeton Invite and others at the team unscored New Balance College Invite. Sarah Serwo set the school record in the 1000m run with a time of 2:55.84 at the New Balance Invite. Lehigh will next compete at the Virginia Duals on Saturday.

Navy The Navy women won their fourth-straight indoor Star Meet, 92-88, over Army last weekend, while the men snapped their seven-meet winning streak over Army with a 107-74 loss. The Midshipmen women will close out their indoor season on Thursday against Loyola (Md.), while the men will end their season at the Hoosier Hills Invite on Friday.