Aug. 4, 2004

Annapolis, Md. - Three home meets, including a dual meet with Army, highlight the 2004 Navy women's cross country schedule released Thursday by head coach Karen Boyle. The Mids return six letterwinners, including First-Team All-Patriot League Emily Castro (So./Centennial, Colo.), Allison Barlow (So./Orange Park, Fla.) and Second-Team All-Patriot League Erin Demchko (So./Nanuet, N.Y.). "Our schedule and where we compete at reflect our goals for the upcoming season," said Boyle, who is entering her 18th season at the helm of the program. "Those goals are to beat Army, improve upon our finish at last season's Patriot League Championship and to place high at the NCAA regional. We would also like to send an athlete or two to the NCAA Championship." The Midshipmen begin their season, Saturday, Sept. 4, when they play host to the Navy Open at the USNA Golf Course. The following Saturday (Sept. 11), Navy will travel to Penn State to compete in the Spiked Shoe Invitational. There, the Mids will compete against several teams throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region and get a preview of the course, which will be the site of the NCAA regional on Saturday, Nov. 13. "The Spiked Shoe will be a good test for us early on to see where we stand against teams in our region," Boyle said. Navy returns home, Saturday, Sept. 18, when it plays host to the Salty Seadog Open before taking a 13-day break from competition. After the break, the Mids will return to action, Friday, Oct. 1, when they travel to Bucknell to take part in the Gulden Invitational. The course will serve as a preview for the Patriot League Championship, which will take place on Oct. 30. "We'll be able to get a feel for the course at Bucknell and it will help us prepare for the conference meet," Boyle added. "We'll also get to see some of the competition that we'll face at the Patriot League Championship. The Patriot League is getting stronger each year and competing in it becomes that much more special." Following the Gulden, Navy closes out its home schedule on Saturday, Oct. 16, when the Mids play host to Army in the Star Meet. The Midshipmen will look to end a three-meet losing streak to the Black Knights. Navy's last win over Army was in 2000 when the Mids posted a 20-41 victory at the USNA Course. "Army is a solid team with good depth," Boyle added. "That will be a great challenge for us heading into the conference championship." The NCAA Championship will be held at Indiana State on Monday, Nov. 22. The top-two teams from each of the nine regional championships qualify for the nationals. Teams and individual runners from schools failing to finish in the top two at the regionals can also qualify as at-large teams to compete in the NCAA meet.