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Jan. 29, 2008

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - In helping to win a total of three events at the Penn State National Open last weekend, Navy men's track field runners Paul Harris (Sr./Fairburn, Ga.) and Andrew Hanko (Fr./Montville, N.J.) have been selected as the Patriot League's Track and Rookie of the Week, respectively, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.

Harris becomes the first runner in league history to be recognized as the Patriot League Track of the Week for three-straight weeks during indoor action. He joins Ralph Lufkin (field, 2005) as the only other Navy competitor to earn a weekly award from the league in three-consecutive weeks. Harris has earned the league's track athlete-of-the-week honors in his career seven times on the indoor track and nine times overall.

Last Saturday, Harris remained the nation's second-fastest runner in the 800-meter event with a first-place, NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:49.29 in the invitational section. His clocking ranks only 0.01-second off Alex McClary's national best time of 1:48.28 set on Jan. 11 with Arkansas. Harris's effort ranks as the third-fastest time in school history, only 0.83-second away from his program record set at last year's Iowa State Classic. He now owns the school's six-quickest times in the indoor event.

One day before his performance in the 800-meter run, Harris ran the third leg of Navy's distance medley relay that won with an IC4A qualifying time of 9:52.52. The Midshipmen finished 0.80-second ahead of second-place Georgetown and 4.04 seconds ahead of Tennessee. Harris also served on the 4x400-meter relay on Saturday that produced a season-best, IC4A qualifying time of 3:15.27 to finish second overall, just 0.19-second away from Bowie State's first-place showing.

In his first collegiate race at the mile distance on Saturday, Hanko paced the field with a blistering time of 4:09.99 to earn a spot in this year's IC4A Championship in a second event. One week before in Annapolis, the Navy rookie registered a first-place time of 8:26.06 in the 3,000-meter run. The product of Montville, N.J., finished the mile run 3.68 seconds ahead of second-place runner Stephen Kraus from Army. Hanko currently owns the Patriot League's fastest time in the mile.

Hanko is the second Navy runner to earn Patriot League Rookie-of-the-Week kudos this winter, as Jake Palmer (Fr./Plymouth, Ind.) claimed the award on Jan. 9.

Navy (6-1) will host rival Army in the annual Star Meet this Saturday in Annapolis, starting at 11:30 a.m. The action will be the final men's track & field meet in Halsey Field House, as the Midshipmen will move into the 140,000-square-foot, $45 million Wesley Brown Field House in 2008-09. Navy's new home indoor facility will feature a hydraulic banked 200-meter track, a 60-meter straightaway in the center, dual pole vault/jumping runways, dual throwing areas and a scenic view of the Severn River.