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Navy Travels to Fordham Invitational This Saturday

The Midshipmen finished first out of 21 teams at last year's invitational

	Navy's John Olsen

Sept. 6, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's cross country team will compete in its second-consecutive road meet when it heads to the Fordham Invitational on the trails of Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y., this Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Last Saturday, the Mids kicked off their 2007 campaign with a first-place performance out of nine teams at the Sea Gull Opener in Salisbury, Md. Navy, who raced only its freshmen a week ago, have won that meet six times over the last-nine years to open the year.

Leading the freshmen contingent to the finish line for Navy was Nathan Liversedge (Fr./Wilmore, Ky.), as he placed third out of 89 runners with a time of 26:35. Classmate Matthew De Villers (Fr./Menomonee Falls, Wis.) immediately followed in fourth with a 26:37 clocking. Navy's newcomers ran in a tight pack last week, evidenced by only an 18-second spread between the team's first- and fifth-fastest times.

The Midshipmen will be making their fifth appearance at the Fordham Invitational in program history on Saturday and have come away as the team champion on three prior occasions (1998, 2002 and 2006). Last year, the Midshipmen totaled 36 points to finish 10 ahead of second-place Penn to top the field of 21 teams.

Navy returns four runners that placed among on the team's top-five times at last year's invitational. John Olsen (Sr./Staten Island, N.Y.) placed third out of 180 runners with a time of 26:00 to lead the Mids. Team captain John Kress (Sr./Colorado Springs, Colo.) landed fourth with a 26:03 showing, while Andrew Grant (Jr./Athens, Ga.) finished in 26:35 for 10th place and Chris Horel (So./Belford, N.J.) posted the 12th-best time with his 26:44 clocking.

Following this Saturday's meet, the Midshipmen will return to Annapolis to host their lone home race of the year on Saturday, Sept. 15. The action for the Navy Invitational on the USNA Cross Country Course is slated for a 10 a.m. start.