Oct. 25, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's cross country team will begin its postseason slate when it heads to Lafayette's Metzgar Fields for the 2007 Patriot League Championship on Saturday at 11 a.m.

The Midshipmen completed the regular season with a 1-0 record in dual-meet action, a 23-35 victory over Army in the Star Meet at West Point two weeks ago. Navy finished among the top-four schools in four of the five invitationals it took part in during the fall. Among the competition prior to this week's league championship were eight nationally-ranked schools.

Navy will be making its first trip to Lafayette's home course in the 85-year history of the program on Saturday. The Mids come into the race ranked by the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as the seventh-best team in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the highest among all schools in the Patriot League.

At the beginning of the year, Navy was picked second in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, projected to finish only behind five-time defending league champion American. Since joining the Patriot League in 2003, the Midshipmen have turned in second-place performances in three of their first-four races.

The Midshipmen have not finished behind a Patriot League school in any race during the 2007 slate. Navy topped American both times this season, besting the Eagles by two places in the Navy Invitational on Sept. 15 and one spot at the Iona Meet of Champions one week later at Van Cortlandt Park. Also in the latter meet, the Mids finished three spots ahead of Army before claiming the N-Star on the road two weeks ago. Navy also landed three places ahead of Holy Cross in the Fordham Invitational on Sept. 8 at Van Cortlandt Park.

A pair of experienced runners, John Kress (Sr./Colorado Springs, Colo.) and John Olsen (Sr./Staten Island, N.Y.), will be expected to lead the way for the Midshipmen on Saturday.

Kress, Navy's team captain, earned First-Team All-Patriot League honors at last year's championship, finishing sixth overall on a mud-slicked Harry Lang Course in Hamilton, N.Y. This year, he has posted one of Navy's top-two times in each of his five races, landing among the overall top 10 four times. He has led the Mids across the finish line in each of the last-two races and recorded the 14th-fastest Navy time in USNA Cross Country Course history (24:14.9) one month ago.

Olsen also finished among the top-14 runners at the Patriot League Championship last fall to earn second-team all-league kudos. As a senior in 2007, he has kept pace with Kress at the front of the pack, registering one of Navy's top-two times in all five of his races. Olsen was the first Navy runner to cross the finish line in each of his first-three races, twice earning Patriot League Runner-of-the-Week recognition. He owns four top-five overall showings heading into Saturday's race.

Several other Mids will be counted upon to provide the team with crucial scoring. Bill Prom (Jr./New Berlin, Wis.) has emerged with Navy's third-best time in back-to-back races, while Chris Horel (So./Belford, N.J.), last year's Patriot League Rookie of the Year, has scored in all five races this year. Ricky Griffith (So./Piedmont, Calif.), Andrew Grant (Jr./Athens, Ga.) and Andrew Hanko (Fr./Montville, N.J.) all have the ability to come up and score or serve as a displacing runner on Saturday.

Following this weekend's action, Navy will head to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championship on Saturday, Nov. 10, in Bethlehem, Pa. The top-two teams in that meet earn a spot in the NCAA Championship in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 19.