Navy Sports

GreatAmerican · April 3, 2007, 2:01pm

For Immediate Release
Sent Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Mids to Play Host to Retrievers Thursday

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy tennis team will play its final home match of the regular season Thursday afternoon when the Midshipmen play host to UMBC in a 2 p.m. match. The match is slated to be played outdoors on The Yard, with the Severn Valley Tennis & Fitness Club serving as the alternate site should poor weather force the teams indoors.

Navy enters the match with a 10-10 record on the year thanks to its current four-match winning streak. Two of those contests were 4-3 victories by the Mids, while a third was by a 5-2 score.

The Retrievers, meanwhile have posted a 5-0-1 record over their last six matches and will bring an overall record of 10-4-1 with them to Annapolis. UMBC has dropped one or fewer matches in four of its most recent five victories.

Both teams have faced Bucknell, Charlotte, Maryland and St. Joseph's this season, with Navy posting a 2-2 mark against those schools and UMBC tallying a 1-2-1 record in its matches against the foursome of opponents.

The Mids recorded a 5-2 victory over the Retrievers when the two teams met last year in Annapolis. Navy returns its entire lineup from last season's match, while UMBC returns all but one of its singles players and six of its eight players who faced the Mids a year ago.

"We expect a tough match from UMBC," said Navy head coach John Officer. "They are a much improved team. Chris Meyer is a very steady player for them at number two singles. We will need to compete hard for every point to be successful."

One of the keys to Navy's recent surge has been the doubles play of the team. The Mids have won the doubles point in each of their matches during the winning streak, sweeping the three doubles contests twice over this span.

The top doubles team for the Mids of late has been the No. 1 team of Nate Nelms (So., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (So., Papillion, Neb.). The duo is undefeated during Navy's four-match winning streak and has posted a 32-15 record in games over this span.

Which team wins the doubles point has been a key indicator of how Navy's overall matches have gone this year. The Mids have won the doubles point in seven contests this year and have gone on to win six of those matches. Conversely, Navy has posted just a 1-7 record in matches in which it has lost the doubles point.

Ramsey Lemaich (Fr., Danville, Calif.), Alex James (Jr., Visalia, Calif.) and Adrian Lai (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) have also been on nice runs of late in singles. Lemaich has not dropped a set in winning four-straight matches, while James has won his last three matches in straight sets. Team captain Lai, meanwhile, has lost just one set in posting a three-match winning streak.

While Thursday's match will be the last regular season home contest for the Mids, later this month Navy will be playing host to the Patriot League Tournament. The three quarterfinal round matches will be played April 21, followed by a pair of semifinal matches on the 22nd and the league's championship match on the 23rd.

GreatAmerican · April 3, 2007, 2:19pm

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Contact: Jonathan Maggart (410) 293-8771

Mitch Harris Tabbed Patriot League Player of the Week

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Following one of the best performances hitting performances against Patriot League opposition in school history, Navy baseball junior Mitch Harris (Mt. Holly, N.C.) was selected the Patriot League Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday.

The Navy junior becomes just the second player in Patriot League history to earn Player-of-the-Week and Pitcher-of-the-Week accolades in the same season. Army’s Mark Houston last achieved the feat during the 1994 campaign.

Earlier in the day, Harris was named to the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll for the second time during his career.

Harris played a key role in Navy’s four-game sweep of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., last weekend, the team’s first four-game road sweep of a Patriot League foe in 12 years.

At the plate, the product of Mt. Holly, N.C., batted .444 (8-for-18) with eight runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBIs and a slugging percentage of 1.056. He registered at least one extra-base hit, one run and one RBI during each of the four games last weekend.

He belted home runs in three-consecutive games to start the series, becoming only the second player in school history (Mark Zematis at East Carolina on March 4-5, 2000, being the other) to achieve the feat and the first to do so against Patriot League opposition. The three four-baggers Harris smacked this past weekend pushed his season total to seven, tying him for third place on the program’s single-season home run list.

In the series opener, Harris pounded a three-run home run over the left-center fence to build on Navy’s one-run lead in the sixth inning. During the nightcap of last Saturday’s doubleheader, he went the opposite way with a 400-foot shot over the right-center fence, just missing the scoreboard. One game later on Sunday, he gave the Mids a 1-0 lead in the first with his second opposite field shot, nearly hit to the same spot as his previous round-tripper.

For the year as a hitter, Harris owns a .327 (33-for-101) batting average with 24 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 33 RBIs, 15 walks and a .614 slugging percentage.

On the mound, Harris won the opening game of the series, striking out eight in 6.1 innings to improve to 6-2 on the year. He has struck out more batters than innings pitched this season and has recorded the feat in 14 of his last 16 starts, dating back to the 2006 season.

The eight strikeouts pushed Harris’ career total to 202, making him only the fifth pitcher in school history to reach 200 career strikeouts and only the second Navy pitcher to reach that mark before his senior year (Chuck Davis in 1959-60 was the other).

Following his start on the hill, the Navy right-hander owns a 2.17 ERA in 49.2 innings of work. He has struck out 67 batters this season, averaging 12.14 strikeouts per nine innings. Meanwhile, he has allowed only 30 hits, limiting the opposition to a .169 batting average.

The Midshipmen (22-9, 4-0 in the Patriot League) will host Lafayette (12-10, 4-0 in the Patriot League) in a showdown of the league’s two undefeated teams this weekend at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis. Live stats will be available for each of the four games this upcoming weekend via GameTracker through Navy’s website, <a href="http://www.navysports.com%5B/url%5D">www.navysports.com</a> (.)

GreatAmerican · April 3, 2007, 3:37pm

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Contact: Jonathan Maggart (410) 293-8771

Forsythe Named Patriot League Track Athlete of the Week

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - For the second week in a row, Navy women's track & field senior sprinter Loni Forsythe (Chattanooga, Tenn.) has been named the Patriot League Track Athlete of the Week, it was announced on Tuesday afternoon by the league office.

Forsythe helped the Midshipmen to a first-place finish at the inaugural Military Championships in Lexington, Va., last Saturday. Competing in a driving rainstorm, she won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.91 seconds, the third-fastest time in program history. The product of Chattanooga, Tenn., claimed her second event title of the day in the 200-meter dash, where she crossed the finish line in 24.91 seconds. Her effort in the 200-meter dash tied the ninth-fastest time in school history.

Last week, Forsythe was selected as both the Patriot League and ECAC Track Athlete of the Week for posting the second-fastest time in two events during Navy?s outdoor season-opening meet.

The Midshipmen (9-0) will split up their squad to compete at two events this weekend. Much of the track members will head to Williamsburg, Va., to partake in the Colonial Relays on Friday and Saturday, while the remaining track athletes and field competitors will travel to Philadelphia for the Penn Invitational on Saturday at Franklin Field.

GreatAmerican · April 3, 2007, 9:53pm

Mids Rally For First-Ever Win Against D-I Team

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four different players netted hat tricks and Navy rallied from an early deficit for a 14-13 win over Howard in women's lacrosse action on Tuesday afternoon. The win, which moves Navy's record to 10-3 overall, was the first ever against a Division I opponent for the team, which is in its Division I transitional year.

"I'm really proud of the girls," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "We are very excited to get our first win against a Division I team. We have to give credit to Howard. They came out aggressive and fast and their goalie played very well. We struggled early, but came back and made the plays when we needed to."

The Mids fell behind early 4-0, but cut the Bison lead to 8-6 at halftime. The Mids took their first lead of the game at 10-9, but Howard retook the lead at 11-10 and for the last time at 13-12. However, the Mids tallied the last two goals of the game, including Elise Chapdelaine's game-winner with just 1:34 to play.

"We might have been a little tired from the weekend and we struggled at the start offensive, partly because of the loss of Kaylene (Klingenstein)," said Timchal. The Mids were playing their fourth game in four days. "We recovered in time and made some adjustments and the players felt more comfortable in their roles once we got going."

Chapdelaine, Valerie Cappalaere, Erin Rawlick and Amanda Towey all scored three goals. Sarah Bushong and Mary Ruttum tallied a goal each. Towey also contributed with three assists.

The Mids also got a big boost in goal from sophomore Vanessa Nieves. After entering midway through the first half, the reserve goalie recorded a career-high seven saves, including several key stops in the second half.

"She had several big saves that really kept us in the game in both halves," said Timchal. "I was very pleased that she was able to step up for us."

The Mids will be in action next on Friday, when they host the Maryland Club team at 7:00 pm. The game will be played on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy at Farragut Field.

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 9:10am

Navy football players head to White House for 4th year in a row

<a href="http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/04_03-36/TOP%5B/url%5D">http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/04_03-36/TOP</a>

[quote]
President Bush waded through a sea of Navy football players yesterday, shaking hands with every Midshipman and cracking one-liners amid much laughter.

As he reached the rear of the podium, the president encountered fullback Adam Ballard, a fellow Texan. The two engaged in a spirited conversation and Midshipman Ballard made a comment that brought a smile and a chuckle from the president....

[/quote]

navy2010 · April 4, 2007, 9:16am

[quote]
It seems to me this is becoming a spring tradition. For the fourth year in a row, the football team from the Naval Academy is here to receive the Commander in Chief's Trophy," he said, joking that the Rose Garden should be renamed "The Yard."

[/quote]

wonder if we can take Bush up on the offer!!!!!!! :)

navy2010 · April 4, 2007, 9:57am

and this from the White House:

<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070402-8.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070402-8.html</a>

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 11:12am

Navy Men's Basketball Team Volunteers at Boys & Girls Club

For: Immediate Release
Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Contact: Chris Forman - 410-293-8774

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- This past weekend, several members of the Navy men's basketball team participated in a community event (Youth Basketball Tournament) at the Boys & Girls Club of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. The event ran from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, with the Boys & Girls Club holding its first annual Boys & Girls Club of Maryland State Alliance Tournament for boys of ages 14-15. Five youth teams participated in the tournament.

The tournament activities started on Friday with a banquet from 5-7:00 pm followed by a basketball clinic from 7-9:00 pm. Freshman Derek Young (Seat Pleasant, Md.) was the banquet speaker, focusing on a message of what it takes to be a student-athlete, commitment on the court and classroom and the importance of doing well in school. The banquet was well attended and consisted of Boys & Girls Club personnel, parents, the police department, public information representatives, community representatives, youths and Navy basketball players.

"It is my belief that the United States Naval Academy and the Naval Academy Athletic Association are both committed to developing a partnership with the local community through community service," said CDR DeDe Duncan White, USN, who is on the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County and is the Chairperson of Programs. "NAAA has taken the lead in providing services to the local youths by providing complimentary tickets to a variety of sporting events to the Boys & Girls Club and other youth groups and by allowing student-athletes to speak to youths about preparing for college. The student-athletes serve as tremendous role models because of their dedication and success in academics and athletics."

During the basketball clinic, the Midshipmen players divided the youths from the five teams into six groups and worked with them on the basic fundamentals, rebounding, dribbling, shooting, blocking shots, boxing out and different (basketball plays) formations.

The tournament games then began on early Saturday morning. Two of the participating teams (Meade Village and Harford County Boys & Girls Clubs) coaches were not able to make the trip. Therefore, the Midshipmen took the lead in coaching the team. One of the teams (Harford County) ended up in the Championship game on Sunday. The team was coached by Young and sophomore Kaleo Kina (Phoenix, Ariz), who led the squad to a runner-up finish as they fell in the title game by four points.

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 11:43am

For Immediate Release
Sent Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Swimming & Diving Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Navy's Zahalka Earns League Academic Honor

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Navy sophomore Kelly Zahalka (Richmond, Va.) became the fourth women's swimmer in Patriot League history to be selected as both the league's swimmer of the championship meet and scholar-athlete of the year for the sport in the same season Wednesday when she was announced as the recipient of the latter award by the league office.

Zahalka, a history major who is also working towards a minor in Chinese, carries a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average and is ranked second in her class at Navy.

She earned league swimmer-of-the-meet accolades this season after winning the 200 butterfly and both individual medley events at the league championship to help Navy win the program's first team title in five years. Zahalka also was a member of Navy's victorious 400 and 800 freestyle relay teams at the championship.

Zahalka, who also won the Patriot League title in the 400 IM as a freshman, holds Navy, Patriot League and league meet records in the 200 fly and 400 IM events and has posted the third-fastest time in school history in the 200 IM.

She joins Heather Davies ('93) and Allison Moon (2004) as the lone Mids to be tabbed as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's swimming and diving.

The list of swimmers who have garnered the league's top athletic and academic awards for the sport in the same season features Jill Addesa (Holy Cross, 1992), Colleen Lynch (Holy Cross, '95), Meghan Thiel (American, 2006) and Zahalka.

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 1:35pm

For Immediate Release
Sent Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Navy's Hobbs Named First-Team All-Senior CLASS

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Navy's Kate Hobbs (Wexford, Pa.) was one of five players who garnered First-Team All-Senior CLASS honors Wednesday as part of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award program for women's basketball.

Now in its sixth year, the award recognizes seniors for excellence in the classroom, within the community and on the basketball court. CLASS in the award title is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.

The idea for the award was conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who remains associated with the award as its honorary chairman

After initial nominations for the award were submitted at the start of the basketball season, a list of 30 semifinalists was established in January. A national panel of coaches and media then narrowed the semifinalists down to 10 finalists in February, at which point another round of voting was conducted by coaches, media, the sponsors and the general public to determine the final awards.

Duke's Alison Bales was selected as the 2007 senior of the year, with teammate Lindsey Harding, Purdue's Katie Gearlds, Maryland's Shay Doron and Hobbs joining her in earning first-team accolades. Those garnering second-team honors were Amanda Brown of Penn State, Jessica Davenport of Ohio State, Dee Davis of Vanderbilt, Ivory Latta of North Carolina and Shay Murphy of USC.

"This is truly a great honor for Kate and the United States Naval Academy," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "At an institution such as ours where honor, courage and commitment are its cornerstones, Kate Hobbs exemplifies these virtues in everything she does. She has worked hard over the last four years to be the total scholar-athlete and she is very deserving of this tremendous honor."

On the court, Hobbs averaged 10.0 points and 6.8 rebounds a game during her senior season, while amassing over 900 points and 550 rebounds and appearing in a school-record 115 games over her career. Navy's team captain during the recently completed 2006-07 season, Hobbs also totaled 92 blocked shots during her four years to rank second to Yolanda Ray's school-leading 93 career rejections.

An economics major at Navy with a cumulative grade-point average of over 3.0, Hobbs will be commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy this May and will begin her naval career as a surface warfare officer aboard the USS Hopper. Having possessed a lifelong dream of becoming a doctor, a goal cultivated through her many years of volunteering at hospitals, she also plans to eventually attend medical school, as well.

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 2:34pm

Northwestern's Doug Meffley Earns Inaugural Swimming World Magazine's SID of the Year Award -- April 4, 2007

PHOENIX, Arizona, April 4. NOT many people in the general population of the sports community truly understand the integral part that media relations contacts and sports information directors (SIDs) play in sports coverage. Swimming World Magazine, however, wishes to change that at least within the swimming community as we introduce the inaugural Swimming World Magazine SID of the Year award. Northwestern's Doug Meffley garnered our initial award by being the quintessential swimming and diving SID.

SIDs are those people that are assigned within each university to interact with any media requests for their respective sports. They tirelessly research small nuggets of information, produce top-flight press releases about anything and everything for their sports and set up interviews with their teams' student-athletes, among a variety of other behind-the-scenes event management and administrative duties.

With this in mind, the staff at Swimming World Magazine took into consideration how quickly different SIDs worked with our numerous requests for interviews and images as well as how well they each promoted their own institutions.

This past year, Meffley stood head-and-shoulders above the rest as he routinely took care of our requests as Mike Alexandrov and Matt Grevers put together special dual-meet seasons throughout the year as well as ended the season with great efforts at the NCAA Championships. Meffley also went above-and-beyond by volunteering his time and effort to help produce our NCAA Championship Resource Packets.

All sports information offices also have students they rely heavily on to help with the workload, and Meffley credits Northwestern senior Eric Dyrdahl for a lot of what he has been able to do. Over the last four years, Dyrdahl has assisted in running meets and writing recaps, bios and features for NU swimming, while also representing Northwestern on-site at the last two NCAA Championships held in Minnesota.

Other SIDs that earned honorable mention for the award based on their incredible efforts on behalf of their respective swimming and diving teams were: Travis Feldhaus (Texas), Paul Goldberg (Southern California), Chris Harrell (Texas A&M), Jeff Keiser (Minnesota), Justin Kischefsky (Navy), Kristie Le (Atlantic Coast Conference) and Jakob Skipper (William & Mary).

We will also be awarding a Media Guide of the Year and Media Guide Cover of the Year awards in future releases.

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 4:07pm

Published in the Annapolis Capital:

<a href="http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/04_04-47/NAS%5B/url%5D">http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/04_04-47/NAS</a>

[quote]
Four different players netted hat tricks and Navy rallied from an early deficit for a 14-13 win over Howard in women’s lacrosse action yesterday afternoon. The win, which moves Navy’s record to 10-3 overall, was the first ever against a Division I opponent for the team, which is in its Division I transitional year....

[/quote]

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 6:29pm

For Immediate Release
Sent Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Navy's Nelms Earns League Tennis Honor

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Navy sophomore Nate Nelms (St. Mary's, Ga.) has been selected as the Patriot League's Men's Tennis Player of the Month for March, it was announced Wednesday by the league office.

Nelms compiled records of 4-6 in singles and 7-3 in doubles during March, with all of his matches coming at the respective No. 1 flight in the lineup. Two of his singles losses were to nationally-ranked players and he totaled a 1-2 record against nationally-ranked doubles teams.

One of his top matches of the month took place in early March when he posted a 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7) victory over Andre Iriarte from 39th-ranked North Carolina State in a match played in Raleigh, N.C. He closed the month by winning three of his last-four singles matches and each of his final-four doubles matches with Johnny Waters (So., Papillion, Neb.). Included in this closing stretch were a pair of victories in both singles and doubles against Patriot League opponents.

Navy, 10-10 on the season, will play host to UMBC Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. Weather permitting, the match will be played outdoors on the Naval Academy grounds. Should poor weather force the matches indoors they will instead be played at the Severn Valley Tennis & Fitness Club.

GreatAmerican · April 4, 2007, 6:30pm

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Contact: Jonathan Maggart (410) 293-8771

Harris Named ECAC Player of the Week

CENTERVILLE, Mass. – The accolades continue to roll in for Navy baseball junior pitcher/outfielder Mitch Harris (Mt. Holly, N.C.) following his performance at the plate and on the mound last weekend, as he has been named the ECAC Player of the Week on Wednesday. One day earlier, he was honored as the Patriot League Player of the Week and selected to the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll.