The United States Merchant Marine Academy track and field team performed strong at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Invitational, Saturday, Jan. 24, placing third among five competing teams.

The Mariners scored 118 points, while Coast Guard garnered the team victory with 210 points.

There were several strong performances by the Mariners. Among them, sophomore Adam Polite (Westport, Conn.) had a big day, placing sixth in the 1K (2:50.13), second in the 55m high hurdles (8.62), sixth in the high jump (6'-1.5"), and third in the long jump (20'-10.5"). Polite also competed in the shot put (18th place), and because he competed in all five events in one meet, while tallying at least a 2900 score in these events, he qualified for Eastern College Athletic Conference pentathlon competition with a score of 3270 - a score that bests his scores from last year.

Polite also participated on the 4x200-meter relay team, including Aaron Walker, Louis Barbieri, and Todd Hoyt, that just missed qualifying for ECAC competition by 0.01 seconds.

Junior sprinter Walter Hall (Pearl River, N.Y.) set an Academy record (held previously by himself) in the 600-meter dash, clocking in at 1:26.06, while placing third in the event.

Senior sprinter Hoyt (Bend, Ore.) finished second in the 55-meter dash, with a time of 6.80 in the preliminary race, and 6.83 in the finals.

Senior sprinter Barbieri (Garrison, N.Y.) finished in third place in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 52.66.

Senior middle distance runner Patrick Myers (Albuquerque, N.M.) placed third in the 800-meter run (2:03.65) after racing in the 400-meter dash (56.71) just prior.

Senior distance runner Chris Kapfer (Tualatin, Ore.) finished second in both the 1500-meter and 1000-meter runs, clocking in at 4:06.21 and 2:40.50, respectively.

Senior Fred Peemoeller (Virginia Beach, Va.) placed third in the pole vault competition, clearing a height of 12'-3.5".

The 4x400-meter relay team, composed of Barbieri, Hall, William Hall (Pearl River, N.Y.), and Hoyt, placed first with a time of 3:27.99.

Freshman Maria Wiener (Houston, Texas) placed sixth and eighth in the 800-meter (2:42.41) and 1500-meter (5:27.37) competitions, respectively.