Jan. 26, 2008

FAIRFAX, Va. - Navy's Jacqui Charnigo (Sr./Medina, Ohio) smashed the school record in the pole vault and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship as the Midshipmen women's track & field team topped the field of 13 teams at the Patriot Games on Saturday.

In her second try at 12'11-1/2" (3.95 meters), Charnigo cleared the bar to provisionally qualify for the national championship and surpass the program record of 12'10-1/4" (3.92 meters) set by Amanda Hasenauer in 2003. Charnigo was not finished with her day, as she cleared 5'4" (1.63 meters) for second place in the high jump.

"Jacqui was amazing today - she was so strong," stated Navy head coach Carla Criste. "She has great knee drive and just missed automatically qualifying for the national championship (13'9-1/4", 4.20 meters) on her second try."

With Charnigo's individual performance highlighting the day, Navy totaled 142.7 points to finish ahead of the pack. Host George Mason and Richmond tied for second with 87 points, while VCU placed fourth with 73.5 points and Gettysburg rounded out the top five with 34 points.

Navy's 4x800-meter relay also came away victorious on Saturday. The quartet of Abby Gesecki (So./Nanticoke, Pa.), Vicki Moore (Sr./Burke, Va.), Allie Moreland (Jr./Ocean City, N.J.) and Kayla Sax (So./Richland, Wash.) combined for a time of 9:49.23, 4.15 seconds ahead of second-place VCU.

The Midshipmen also tallied six other second-place performances to help the cause. Janet Von Eiff (Fr./San Diego, Calif.) placed second in the shot put with an impressive distance of 43'2-3/4" (13.18 meters), more than three feet longer than her previous personal record. Indoor team captain Lauren Burmeister (Sr./Brownsdale, Minn.) landed second in the triple jump with a mark of 37'2-3/4" (11.35 meters) and Jessica Schlaegel (So./Nashport, Ohio) cleared 10'7-3/4" (3.25 meters) in the pole vault to rank only behind Charnigo.

On the track, Navy's 4x400-meter relay of Chelsea Chlebo (Fr./Fredericksburg, Va.), Jessica Orr (Sr./New Holland, Pa.), Burmeister and Gesecki teamed up for a second-place time of 4:01.87. Maureen Dooley's (Jr./Durham, Conn.) 5:17.79 clocking in the mile run was good for second place and Moore completed the 1,000-meter run in 2:59.47 to finish second.

"There were several better performances and quite a few personal bests today," stated Criste. "Things are starting to come together and peak at the right time."

Navy will return home next Saturday to host Army in the annual Star Meet, starting at 3 p.m. The dual meet will be Navy's penultimate competition in Halsey Field House, as the Midshipmen will be moving 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.