Jan. 29, 2008

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Navy's Jacqui Charnigo (Sr./Medina, Ohio) produced a NCAA Championship provisional qualifying and school-record height in the pole vault last Saturday to earn Patriot League Women's Track Athlete-of-the-Week honors, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon.

At George Mason's Patriot Games last Saturday, Charnigo cleared 12'11-1/2" (3.95 meters) on her second try in the pole vault to earn provisional qualifying status for this year's indoor national championship. Her effort also smashed the previous school record of 12'10-1/4" (3.92 meters) set by Amanda Hasenauer in 2003. In her second try at 13'9-1/4" (4.20 meters), a NCAA automatic qualifying height, Charnigo just clipped the bar on the way up. She currently owns two of Navy's ten-best heights in the indoor pole vault in program history, both of which have come at the Patriot Games.

Charnigo's day was not done with the pole vault, as she went on to record a season-best height of 5'4-1/4" (1.63 meters) in the high jump to place second among all competitors.

With the help of the Navy senior, the Midshipmen finished first out of the 13 participating teams with a score of 140.7 points.

Charnigo is the second Navy field competitor to earn league field athlete-of-the-week distinction this winter, as Mia Blundetto (So./Apple Valley, Minn.) claimed the award on Jan. 9. This is Charnigo's second-career field athlete-of-the-week honor, as she first was recognized for her performance in the Navy Lidlifter one year ago.

Navy (6-0) will host rival Army in the annual Star Meet this Saturday in Annapolis, starting at 2:10 p.m. The action will be the final Army-Navy women's track & field dual 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.