Sept. 27, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's cross country team will race in its fifth meet in as many weeks when it heads to the highly competitive Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn. The 24-team field for the Men's Gold Competition (Division I) is slated for a 1:10 p.m. ET start.

For the fourth-consecutive week, the Midshipmen will race against a nationally ranked team. This Saturday's meet features five teams ranked among the top-30 squads in the nation and two others are receiving votes. For the year, Navy has matched up with eight nationally ranked programs and three schools that are receiving votes.

The Midshipmen have gotten off to a fast start to the 2007 campaign, ranking among the top-four teams in each of their four meets this year, with no field size smaller than nine teams. One week ago at the Fordham Invitational, Navy placed fourth out of 19 schools at the Iona Meet of Champions in Van Cortlandt Park at Bronx, N.Y.

As a result of their early-season success, the Mids jumped up three spots to fifth place in the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association regional rankings. Navy owns the top ranking among the five Patriot League schools in the region, including three positions better than league preseason favorite American.

Helping the Midshipmen to their fifth-place ranking is John Olsen (Sr./Staten Island, N.Y.), who has earned Patriot League Runner-of-the-Week honors twice this season. Olsen has boasted the team's fastest time and placed among the field's top-five runners in each of his three meets in 2007.

Alongside Olsen at the front of the pack is team captain John Kress (Sr./Colorado Springs, Colo.), who has delivered the team's second-best clocking during all three of his meets. Kress has also crossed the finish line among the top-10 overall competitors in each of races this season.

Following this weekend's action, Navy will have a bye weekend before traveling to West Point, N.Y., to race against Army in the annual Star Meet. Last year, the Midshipmen defeated the Black Knights, 22-33, to capture the N-Star in Annapolis.