March 13, 2004

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Navy senior Erik Schmidt (Sr., Spokane, Wash.) placed fifth in the finals of the mile at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship, Saturday evening at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.

As the fourth American in the field to finish, Schmidt automatically earns All-America status, becoming the first Mid to do so since Michael Ryan in 1999 in the mile. Schmidt also was the first Navy runner to receive an invitation to the NCAA Championship since Ryan five years ago.

Schmidt, who was seeded 12th entering the Championship and recorded the sixth-best time in Friday's preliminaries (4:04.09) to advance to the final, was clocked in 4:02.23 in his fifth-place showing Saturday night. In a close race, he finished only one-quarter of a second out of second place (4:01.99, Nathan Robison of Brigham Young). Indiana's Sean Jefferson captured the NCAA title with a time of 4:00.16.

"Erik ran tough as nails tonight," said Navy coach Al Cantello. "People started to break away, but he found another gear and went right with them. He did everybody proud."

Mile Final
1 Sean Jefferson SO Indiana 4:00.16
2 Nathan Robison JR Brigham Young 4:01.99
3 Jason Woolhouse SR Oklahoma State 4:02.00
4 Scott McGowan SR Montana 4:02.07
5 Erik Schmidt SR Navy 4:02.23
6 Steve Sherer JR Michigan State 4:02.47
7 Jordan Desilets SR Eastern Michigan 4:04.56
8 Eric Garner SR Washington 4:05.85
9 Chris Mulvaney SR Arkansas 4:06.83
10 David Freeman SR Kentucky 4:18.10