LEXINGTON, Va. - The Military Track and Field Championships, featuring teams from seven service academies and a cast of military paralympians, will get underway Friday at noon inside Foster Stadium. Fans can follow along via a blog from the scene, periodic Twitter updates and results posted on VMIKeydets.com. Appropriate links are above, and a meet preview for each team follows.
VMI - Women - The young Keydet team will be led by two top-seeded competitors, Hannah Granger and Jenna Moye. Moye was the 2009 Big South Cross Country Freshman of the Year, and is expected to be a conference contender in the steeplechase during his first career outdoor season. Granger, the defending Big South champion in cross country, as well as the outdoor and indoor 10K's, will run the 5,000-meters this weekend. Big South champion Kate Collins will also compete, as she is part of a talented field of pole vaulters slated to take to the runway.
Men - Four-time Big South champion Felix Kitur will run just his second track meet ever in Lexington, as he takes part in his best event, the 800-meters. Kitur rebounded from a disappointing third-place finish at the Big South indoor meet to win the IC4A title a few weeks later, and hopes to carry that momentum into the outdoor season. Fellow junior James Alexander will also compete, and is a threat to pull off podium finishes in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Ademola Titcombe, VMI's top scorer at the Big South indoor championships, will also take part in this weekend's events.
Air Force - Women - Three champions from the 2007 Military Championships return to defend their titles for Air Force, including now-seniors Sara Neubauer and Ally Romanko, who will both compete this weekend. Romanko won the '07 title in the 800-meters, and has become a threat on the national scene, as evidenced by her 28th-place ranking nationally during the just-completed indoor season (2:06.91). Neubauer is the defending champion in the shot put, and comes in off an indoor season where she was ranked 15th in the country (53'11", 16.43 meters). Katie Weber, who won the javelin here in '07, is entered as well and was 10th at the NCAA West Regionals last season.
Men - Junior Justin Tyner is one of the stories here, as he could win two races this weekend. As a sophomore in 2009, he was an all-region honoree in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, thanks to an eighth-place finish in the event. Tyner is also strong in the 5,000-meters, an event he won his section of at the prestigious Mt. Sac Relays. During this past indoor season, he was ranked 14th in the country in the 5K. Senior Nick Frawley, however, could be the headliner for the Falcons. Frawley is a two-time All-American in the pole vault, having captured seventh at both the Indoor and Outdoor National Championships last season. He comes off an indoor season where he had the 10th best clearance in Division I, a 17'7 ¾" effort, but Frawley was unable to post a height here at the 2007 Championships.
Army - Women - Angela Jenkins was one of the top performers at the 2007 version of this meet, winning the triple jump and claiming a runner-up long jump finish. The two-time Patriot League champion (06-07 and 07-08 indoor triple jump) returns to try and better those results this year, in what should be her final outdoor campaign. Fellow senior Kim Mallard, an NCAA Regional Qualifier last year, also returns and can be expected to better her seventh-place hammer throw finish from 2007.
Men - Junior Alfred McDaniel, one of the favorites in the 100-meters, comes in already having qualified for this year's IC4A Championships, thanks to a 10.65 personal best clocking last weekend in Tampa, Fla. The Army 4X100-meter relay team finished third at that event, posting an IC4A qualifying time as well (41.73). Also in Tampa, Domonick Sylve ran a 13.68 in the 110-meter hurdles, which would have been the fastest time in Army program history by more than two-tenths of a second. The mark, however, was disallowed due to being wind-aided.
The Citadel - Women - Thrower Monique Edwards may be The Citadel's best hope for a podium finish this weekend, as the Bulldog senior is the #3 seed in the hammer and is ranked fourth in the discus coming in to the meet. Edwards had nine top-10 finishes last year out of just 11 meets, and seems to be trending upwards as her career concludes. Sarah Creel, a junior, and sophomore Francesca McCrary are also contenders in the 100-meters and 400-meter hurdles, respectively.
Men - Freshman Daniel Till will enter two events this weekend, as he is a highly-ranked seed in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Junior Chris Castagno is also a threat, as he comes off two straight weeks of breaking The Citadel's record in his trademark event, the hammer throw. He is the fifth-ranked thrower in that event this weekend, as he looks to improve on last week's 50.85 meter (166'10") toss. Finally, freshman Brunson Miller is the top seed in the 400-meters and is a certain podium contender.
Coast Guard - Women - Despite their small roster size, the Bears return two competitors from the '07 Championships. Senior Bryce VanCleef was ninth in the 5,000-meters that year, while classmate Tessa Knott, one of the Academy's team captains, placed 13th in the 800-meters.
Men - Junior Carl Luxhoj is one to watch for the Bears this weekend, as he begins his outdoor season. Last year, he earned a pair of All-American honors at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May, as he placed third in the long jump and eighth in the triple jump. The native of Somerset, N.J. grabbed an All-ECAC selection last outdoor season, as he placed third in the long jump at those proceedings. Fellow junior Kyle Coleman also earned All-ECAC honors last year, as he was fifth in the 400-meters at those Championships.
Navy - Women - Navy has just two competitors on its roster who took part in the last Military Championships, seniors Mia Blundetto and Jessica Schlaegel. Schlaegel is not entered this weekend, but Blundetto is seeded third in the hammer throw. She posted the fifth-longest toss in the Patriot League during the '09 outdoor campaign, a 50.30 meter (165'0") toss. Fellow senior Erica Ziel, who posted the second-fastest 10K in the Patriot League last year, is entered this weekend in the 5K and seeded second.
Men - One event Navy could excel in this weekend is the men's 1,500-meters, as they own each of the top four seeds in that race. The leader of that quartet is sophomore Cody Rome, who had the third-fastest time in the Patriot League as a freshman. He placed third at that conference's championship, and also qualified for IC4A's. Dominic DellaPelle, Matthew De Villers and Jeremy Haney all will compete for podium spots as well.
No notes were available for the Merchant Marine Academy.
