Jan. 16, 2012

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- The Patriot League announced its weekly awards for Jan. 9-15 in indoor track & field and swimming & diving Monday.

There were several postseason qualifying performances over the weekend in indoor track and field as seven out of eight Patriot League teams were in action. The Lehigh women and the Army men each had big weekends in the 6-Way Meet at West Point, N.Y., Saturday, while both the Navy men's and women's programs picked up wins at the Navy Open. All four squads had first-place finishes and all four had weekly award winners in the Patriot League. Navy's Jess Palacio broke a League record for weekly awards with her sixth career Female Track Athlete of the Week award. Navy won two weekly awards, while Army had three and Lehigh had one.

It was a busy week in swimming in diving with several Patriot League teams going up against one another. Bucknell and Colgate split a dual meet Wednesday, with the Bison taking the men's competition and the Raiders winning on the women's side. Army swept Lehigh at West Point Friday night, before Bucknell came in and took both meets from the Black Knights on Saturday. In other action over the weekend, the Navy men took down another nationally-ranked opponent when they took a 155-145 decision at No. 23 Penn State, Colgate split with Binghamton and the American men captured triumphs against Georgetown and VMI.


Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Weekly Awards

MALE TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
CODY ROME, NAVY Sr., Eagle, Idaho
Rome finished first in the 3,000 at the Navy Open Saturday, posting an IC4A-qualifying time of 8:18.25. This was Rome's first event of the indoor track and field season. This is the third time he has won the indoor Track Athlete of the Week award in his career.

FEMALE TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
JESS PALACIO, NAVY Sr., Sun Valley, Nev.
Palacio finished first in the mile (4:45.52) and the 1,000 (2:49.53), both ECAC times, at the Navy Open. This is her second indoor weekly award of the season and sixth of her career, which breaks the Patriot League record (Keira Carlstrom, American, 2002-06). She won four times last season.

MALE FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
TOM WAGNER, ARMY Sr., Clinton, N.Y.
Wagner finished first in the high jump, helping the Black Knights finish first in a six-team meet at West Point Saturday. His height of 7-0.25 feet bested an IC4A-qualifying mark as he became only the second student-athlete at Army to rise above the 7-foot mark. He was 0.01 meters off the Army record.

FEMALE FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
E'LANA LEMON, LEHIGH Jr., West Orange, N.J.
Lemon finished first in the weight throw (54-6), helping the Mountain Hawks place first out of six teams at Army. This is her third weekly award of the season and seventh of her career. (The Patriot League record is 12.)

MALE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
PATRICK TAYLOR, ARMY Fr., Fairfax, Va.
Taylor finished first in two events helping the Black Knights win the Army 6-Way Meet. He was the top finisher in the 400 (50.30) and he was a member of the first-place 1,600 relay team (3:21.87). This is his first indoor weekly award.

FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
LISA JUNTA, ARMY Fr., Springfield, Va.
Junta wins her second straight Rookie of the Week award after posting an ECAC-qualifying time of 17:11.54 (converted time) in the 5,000 at the Army 6-Way Meet. Her time was the second fastest among all NCAA runners this season.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
JOSH OLSEN, AMERICAN Sr., Thompson, Conn.
Olsen finished second in the 3,000 at the Navy Open with an IC4A-qualifying time of 8:24.92.

JOELLE NEILSON, LAFAYETTE Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.
Neilson finished second and met ECAC-qualifying marks in a pair of events, the long jump (18-11.25) and the triple jump (39-1.25), at Saturday Night at the Armory meet.

JEROME RUDOLPH, LAFAYETTE Sr., Lithonia, Ga.
Rudolph finished second in the long jump with an IC4A distance of 23-2.75 at Saturday Night at the Armory meet.

STEPHEN TUTUNJIAN, LEHIGH Sr., Shrewsbury, Mass.
Tutunjian finished first in the triple jump (48-0) and fifth in the long jump (21-5.25) at the Army 6-Way Meet. The triple jump distance was an IC4A-qualifying mark.

CHRIS RICKS, NAVY Sr., Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Ricks finished first in the weight throw with a toss of 57-6.25 at the Navy Open.

AMANDA PHELPS, NAVY Sr., Oceanside, Calif.
Phelps finished third in the weight throw (53-0.25) and fifth in the shot put (40-9.75) at the Navy Open. Her weight throw distance meet an ECAC standard.


Patriot League Swimming and Diving Weekly Awards

MALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
MAC ANTHONY, NAVY Sr., Allentown, Pa.
Another week and another award for Anthony, who garnered the Male Swimmer of the Week nod for the third straight time and fifth overall this season. He won a pair of individual events and swam the anchor leg of the Mids' victorious 400 freestyle relay which clinched a 155-145 victory over No. 23 Penn State Saturday in University Park, Pa. Anthony won the 200 free by 2.18 seconds with a time of 1:38.81, just off the NCAA B-cut standard, and took the 500 free in 4:32.33, clearing the field by 2.36 seconds. He swam the anchor leg of the 400 free relay in 44.34, the second-fastest time of the race. Anthony is now 7-0 in the 200 free this season, which includes victories over swimmers from nationally-ranked programs Virginia, Princeton and Penn State.

FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
RYAN MARYNOWSKI, COLGATE Jr., White Plains, N.Y.
Marynowski enjoyed her best showing of the season to date for Colgate, as she collected first-place finishes in all six events in which she competed. She started the week by capturing both the 100 and 200 flys against Bucknell, helping lift the Raiders to a 165-133 win. She clocked a time of 57.27 in the 100 fly and touched the wall in 2:02.23 in the 200. On Saturday against Cornell, she won the 100 and 200 flys again with time of 57.71 and 2:04.67, respectively. She finished her weekend with a pair of first-place showings as the Raiders defeated Binghamton 180-114. Marynowski swam the 100 back in 59.73 to take first, and added a win in the 200 back in 2:08.85.

MALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
CHRIS NGUYEN, ARMY Jr., Cheshire, Conn.
Nguyen collects his fifth Male Diver of the Week award after capturing three wins from the boards against competitors from Patriot League rivals Lehigh and Bucknell last week. He started the week by taking third from the one-meter board against Lehigh with 291.90 points, but rebounded with a first-place showing of 344.55 points to win the three-meter against the Mountain Hawks Friday. A day later against visiting Bucknell, Nguyen swept the boards, scoring 306.97 from the one-meter and 366.60 from the three-meter against the Bison. Both his scores against Bucknell exceeded the NCAA Zone qualifying marks.

FEMALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
KATIE HETHERINGTON, BUCKNELL Fr., Houston, Texas
Hetherington swept the one- and three-meter boards against a pair of Patriot League rivals last week. She captured both events against Colgate on Wednesday, scoring 223.49 points from the one-meter board and tallying 245.48 in the three-meter competition. She improved her scores Saturday against Army, winning from the one-meter with 255.06 points and taking the three-meter with 273.75. She wrapped up her week Sunday at home against Rutgers, taking second in the three-meter competition and sixth from the one-meter board. Hetherington now has six victories in 10 outings from both boards. She already holds the school records in both events.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
THOMAS BROWN, BUCKNELL Sr., Ridgefield, Conn.
Brown finished in the top two in all six individual events in which he competed last week, including four victories. He won the 200 IM versus Colgate (1:57.56), the 100 and 200 backs against Army (51.42 and 1:52.18, respectively) and the 200 back (1:51.89) versus Columbia.

KELLIE DARMODY, NAVY Jr., Charlotte, N.C.
Darmody posted a time of 56.92 in the 100 back, which took first place against No. 20 Arkansas and placed third against Penn State. She also took second in the 200 back in 2:03.07, which was second against the Razorbacks and third versus the Nittany Lions.

DAN SWEENEY, COLGATE Jr., New Canaan, Conn.
Sweeney collected five wins in three meets last week, including picking up a first-place showing in the 50 free in 21.51 against Bucknell. He tallied three wins Sunday in Colgate's 177-121 loss to Binghamton.

MING ONG, AMERICAN Jr., Pymble, Australia
Ong won three events during a tri-meet at James Madison, where the Eagles picked up victories over Georgetown and VMI. He swept the 100 and 200 breaststroke events with time of 1:00.25 and 2:12.68, respectively, while taking the 200 IM in 1:56.12.