April 13, 2011

Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Weekly Release (4.11.11) 

Center Valley, Pa. — The Lehigh men just edged out Lafayette to combine with the women for a sweep of Lafayette, and the Star Meet was a split in a busy weekend of outdoor track and field.

The men’s Star Meet was the most dramatic with the Black Knights pulling out a 103-97 win over the Mids. Army’s Domonick Sylve (Track Athlete) and Tom Wagner (Field Athlete) both won weekly awards for their combined six first-place finishes. Holy Cross freshman Ross Davies was named the Rookie of the Week.

The Army men hold the highest regional ranking at No. 2 in the Northeast in the latest USTFCCCA poll. Navy moved up one spot to fourth in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and Bucknell is seventh and Lehigh is 10th.

On the women’s side, Navy handed Army a 129-73 defeat and both Amanda Phelps (Field Athlete) and Lauren Allam (Rookie) won weekly awards. Elise DeRoo was named the Female Track Athlete of the Week, setting a new school record in the 3,000.

In the women’s regional polls, Navy holds the highest ranking at No. 7 in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Lehigh is the only other Patriot League team ranked, down one spot to 13th.

This weekend will be a busy one in outdoor track, as there are three weekends left before the Patriot League Championship Meet at Lafayette. Most notably, Bucknell will be hosting three Patriot League teams at its Bison Outdoor Games Friday and Saturday.


Team Notebooks
AMERICAN The Eagles’ Erin Koch and Craig Brown led American at the Maryland Invitational Saturday in College Park, Md. Koch finished fourth in the 400 (58.64) and Brown was third in the 3,000 (8:15.24). Both runners ran the second fastest time in program history in their respective events. The men’s team finished eighth out of 11 teams and the women finished fifth out of 10. American will return to the track Friday and Saturday at the Bison Outdoor Games in Lewisburg, Pa.

ARMY The Black Knights split their annual Star Meet with Navy, with the men winning a close contest 103-97 and the women falling 129-73. It was the third straight win for the men, who were led by Domonick Sylve’s dominant day. He won four events — three individual — and finished two with IC4A-qualifying times. Sylve won the 100 (10.84), 200 (22.01), 110 hurdles (14.01) and the 400 relay (43.64). He qualified in both the 100 dash and the 110 hurdles. Tom Wagner also had a big day for the Black Knights, winning both the high jump (2.04) and triple jump (14.92), and both met IC4A standards. Justin Harris qualified in the pole vault (4.80), finishing first. Jessica Wagoner led the women with her ECAC-qualifying toss of 43.05 meters in the discus. Army will return home for the West Point Open at Shea Stadium Saturday.

BUCKNELL The Bison were idle last weekend. They will return this weekend with the

HOLY CROSS The Crusaders competed at both the non-scored Duke Invitational and the New Hampshire Invitational. Freshman Ross Davies led the way at the New Hampshire Invite, placing fifth in the 200 (22.88) and sixth in the 100 (11.35). At the Duke Invite, Chris Bergan also had a sixth-place finish, running the 10,000 in 32:11.54. M. Siobhan Straub and Stephanie Okpoebo led the women’s team with their performances in the 100 and 200. Straub was 15th in the 100 (12.67) and Okpoebo was 19th (12.79), while Okpoebo was 15th in the 200 (25.67) and Straub was 18th (26.02). Holy Cross will return to the track Saturday at the Minuteman Invitational.

LAFAYETTE The Leopards were swept by rival Lehigh Sunday with the men falling 104-98 and the women dropping a 118-82 contest. Despite the loss, Lafayette had a better day with multiple postseason qualifiers. Jerome Rudolph, also a member of the football team, won the 100 (10.75) and the 400 relay (41.29), finishing with IC4A-qualifying times in both. On the women’s side, Gwen Steckel qualified for the ECAC Championships with her first-place toss of 42.97 meters in the discus. Lafayette will return to the track Friday and Saturday at the Greyhound Invitational.

LEHIGH The Mountain Hawks swept rival Lafayette Sunday, with the men edging out a 104-98 and the women winning 118-82. With the sweep, it marks just the second time in 13 years that Lehigh has finished 6-0 in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field men’s and women’s duals against Lafayette. Kevin Steimle led the men with his IC4A-qualifying mark of 60.79 meters in the javelin. The women’s team posted two ECAC marks, with the 400 relay team of Kristin Slotnick, Khaaleedah Smith, Alex Doersam and Melissa Knapp taking first (47.64) and Emily Settle winning the hammer throw (53.12). Lehigh will return to the track with split squads heading to both the Bison Outdoor Games and the Moravian Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

NAVY The Midshipmen had another close battle with Army in the Star Meet, but the men couldn’t duplicate their indoor magic, falling 103-97 Friday. The Navy women won 129-73. Despite the loss, the men still hit 11 IC4A-qualifying marks. The Mids had three qualifiers in the 5,000: Cody Rome won the race in 14:22.24, and Kenneth Bunnell was second (14:22.57) and Andrew Hanko was third (14:25.52). Dean Black won the 3,000 steeplechase (9:04.17) and Robert Alvarado was second (9:09.52). The Mids had three more qualifiers in the hammer throw: Nicholas Porter was first (176-9), Patrick Norwood was second (174-8), Christopher Ricks was the third (174-4). Chris Boniwell won the shot put with an IC4A-qualifying mark of 52-9½ and Paul Neidhardt qualified with a second-place finish in the pole vault (15-9). Mitch Simmonds placed second in the 110 hurdles with a season-best and IC4A time of 14.59. On the women’s side, there were three ECAC qualifiers. Amanda Phelps won the hammer throw with an ECAC distance of 177-0, and a pair of freshmen — Lauren Allam and Alix Membreno hit ECAC distances in the field. Allam won the discus (144-1) and Membreno won the javelin (137-4). The Navy women will return to action at the Loyola-Johns Hopkins Invitational next Saturday, while the men will compete at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational Saturday.


Patriot League Notebook 
Army men, Navy women selected to win Patriot League titles in 2011
If the 2011 Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field preseason poll is a precursor to championships, it could be another wild finish at the championship meet hosted by Lafayette College in May.

The Army men and the Navy women were selected first in their respective preseason polls, announced by the Patriot League. The preseason polls are voted on by the coaches and the sports information directors.

On the men’s side, Army garnered eight first-place votes and 91 points to edge out Navy, which got 86 points and five first-place votes. The Mids won the final two events at the indoor championships in February to dethrone the defending champion Black Knights.

Both Army and Navy will look to take the outdoor title from the defending champion Bucknell Bison, who were selected to finish third with 81 points and three first-place votes. Lehigh (57) and Lafayette (50) round out the top five, and American (40), Colgate (28) and Holy Cross (15) follow.

The women’s poll was close, too, with Navy edging out defending champion Bucknell 95-89. The Mids, who won the indoor title, picked up 11 first-place votes, while the Bison received five.

Army (68) narrowly beat out Lehigh (66) for third place, and Colgate was fifth with 46 points. Holy Cross (36), Lafayette (32) and American (16) round out the poll.

The Navy women return junior Jess Palacio, who after winning last season’s Track Athlete of the Meet at the outdoor championships, won the same award at the indoor meet in February. She leads a strong core of Mids who took the indoor title with 157 points. Bucknell was second with 117.

The men’s indoor championship was much closer with Navy edging Army by six points. The Black Knights suffered a similar fate at the outdoor championships last season, losing to Bucknell by three points — the smallest margin of victory in Patriot League men’s championships history.

The Bucknell women also won the outdoor title last season, forging the first sweep since Army did it in 1998. It was the 11th championship for the Bucknell women. They have won two straight and 10 of the last 12 championships. For the Bucknell men, last season’s title was their second and first since they won the inaugural Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field title in 1991. 

Sylve and gold 
Army’s Domonick Sylve will look to make it four straight 110-meter hurdles titles this spring when he competes at the Patriot League Championships in Easton, Pa.

Sylve, a senior, has won the 110 hurdles title three times, with last season’s performance breaking a 14-year-old record. After winning the event with a time of 14.07 his freshman and sophomore years, Sylve ran the race in 13.90 seconds as a junior to break the Patriot League record of 14.03 seconds (1996, T.J. Peterson, Army). The Patriot League record also was an NCAA Division I qualifying mark, earning Sylve a trip to the national championships.

Sylve was the Patriot League Track Athlete of the Meet after this season’s indoor championships, winning the 60-meter hurdles and the 200-meter dash. Sylve also won the indoor 60-meter hurdles in 2010, as well as the outdoor 4x100-meter relay title. He is a two-time IC4A Champion (2010 indoor 55-meter hurdles, outdoor 60-meter hurdles).

Five for DeRoo? 
Colgate’s Elise DeRoo has won the last four Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards that she has been eligible for. Prior to winning this season’s indoor Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, she won last season’s indoor and outdoor awards, as well as this year’s cross country Female Scholar-Athlete.

The Newton, Conn., native has a 3.93 GPA in molecular biology. Following her second straight women’s cross country title in the Patriot League, DeRoo added an indoor individual title in the 1,000 and a relay title in the DMR in February. She finished the 1,000 in a Patriot League record time of 2:52.37 and anchored the Patriot League record-breaking DMR team (11:58.26).

Trio of NCAA East Regional qualifiers return for the Mids 
Andrew Hanko, Cody Rome and Chris Ricks all return to lead the Mids this spring. The three were pivotal in lifting Navy to the Patriot League Indoor Track and Field title in February, and they will need to play similar roles in order to have the men sweep the 2010-11 season. Hanko and Rome were both NCAA East Regional qualifiers in the 1,500 last season, and Ricks was a qualifier in the javelin. The last time the Navy men’s team won the outdoor title was 2008. The Mids also won the indoor title that season.

Stepping outside for some more 
After winning the 800 and the 1,500 during the 2010 Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Navy’s Jess Palacio moved indoors to win the 800 and the mile run at the 2010-11 Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The junior, who owns the Navy program record in the 1,500, will look to win her third straight Track Athlete of the Meet award this spring. She was an NCAA East Regional qualifier in the 1,500 last season and earned ECAC All-East honors in the mile and the 1,500.

2011 Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championships to be held at Lafayette 
This year’s outdoor championships will be held at the Lafayette College May 6-7 in Easton, Pa. It will be the fourth time that the championships will be held at Lafayette and the first time since 2005. Army won the men’s title in 2005 and Bucknell won the women’s title.


Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Weekly Awards
MALE TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
DOMONICK SYLVE, ARMY Sr., Long Beach, Calif.
Sylve won his eighth career Track Athlete of the Meet award and second of the season with his four first-place finishes in a 103-97 Army win over Navy. Sylve won the 100 (10.84), 200 (22.01), 110 hurdles (14.01) and 400 relay (43.64). His times in the 100 dash and 110 hurdles qualified him for the IC4A Championships.

FEMALE TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
ELISE DEROO, COLGATE Jr., Newtown, Conn.
DeRoo broke a school record in the 3,000, finishing second at the Spring Invitational at Cornell with a time of 9:49.02. The time, which qualified her for the ECAC Championships, bested the Colgate record of 10:13.73, set in 1999. It is now one of two school records she has broken this outdoor season as she set the new mark in the 1,500 (16:43.61) two weeks ago.

MALE FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
TOM WAGNER, ARMY Jr., Clinton, N.Y.
Wagner wins his second straight Field Athlete of the Meet award after hitting two IC4A-qualifying marks in the Black Knights' 103-97 win over Navy. Both were first-place finishes as he won the high jump (2.04) and the triple jump (14.92).

FEMALE FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
AMANDA PHELPS, NAVY Jr., Oceanside, Calif.
Phelps led the Mids to a 129-73 win over Army in the Star Meet, placing first in the hammer (53.96) and second in the shot put (12.91). Her mark in the hammer bested an ECAC-qualifying standard.

MALE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
ROSS DAVIES, HOLY CROSS Fr., Salem, N.H
Davies finished fifth in the 200 (22.88) and sixth in the 100 (11.35) at the New Hampshire Invitational Saturday. This is Davies' first weekly award of his collegiate career.

FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
LAUREN ALLAM, NAVY Fr., Pasadena, Md.
Allam won her third straight Rookie of the Week award after posting another first-place finish in the discus, this time with a toss of 43.91 meter, besting an ECAC-qualifying standard.

HONORABLE MENTION
JESSICA WAGGONER, ARMY Fr., Minden, Nev.
Waggoner placed second in the discus behind Navy freshman Lauren Allam, with an ECAC-qualifying toss of 43.05.

GWEN STECKEL, LAFAYETTE So., Slatington, Pa.
Steckel placed first in the discus with an ECAC-qualifying mark of 42.97 meters at the Lehigh-Lafayette Dual. 

JEROME RUDOLPH, LAFAYETTE Jr., Lithonia, Ga.
Rudolph ran both the 100 dash (10.75) and the 400 relay (41.29) in IC4A qualifying times, placing first in both at the Lehigh-Lafayette Dual meet.

CHRIS BONIWELL, NAVY Jr., San Diego, Calif.
Boniwell placed first in the shot put with an IC4A-qualifying mark of 16.09 meters at the Navy-Army Dual Meet.

CODY ROME, NAVY Jr., Eagle, Idaho
Rome placed first in the 5,000 (14:22.24) and second in the 1,500 (3:53.25). His time in the 5,000 met the IC4A-qualifying standard at the Navy-Army Dual Meet.