Oct. 14, 2006
Results
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy junior men's cross country runner John Kress (Colorado Springs, Colo.) crossed the finish line in 24:33.22 to top all runners and lead the Midshipmen to a 22-33 N-Star victory over Army on Saturday morning at the USNA Cross Country Course.
The Midshipmen recorded five of the seven-fastest times to finish the regular season with a 1-0 record in dual-meet action, while the Black Knights fell to 0-2. Navy upped its record to 42-27-1 against Army, including an impressive 23-3-1 mark against the Black Knights in Annapolis.
"We were lucky to win today, because I felt that coming in that they were a very talented team," stated Navy head coach Al Cantello, who earned his Naval Academy-record 29th N-Star win at the helm of the cross country program. "However, that is why we run the race. Our guys really stepped it up and came through with some good performances."
Kress' 24:33.22 showing placed him 18.67 seconds ahead of Army's top-finisher, Dan O'Loughlin. The Navy junior posted a time of 4:32 in the opening mile of the race and nearly missed finishing among Navy's top-25 times in course history. Kress has posted the team's fastest time in three of the last-four meets.
Junior John Olsen (Staten Island, N.Y.) soon followed with a 24:54.11 showing to place third overall. Olsen has finished among Navy's top-two runners in each of the last-five meets. Two weeks ago at the Notre Dame Invitational, he led the team with a nearly-identical 24:54 clocking.
Fellow junior Lucas Burke (Bakersfield, Calif.) emerged as Navy's third-fastest runner and guided a pack of three Midshipmen that ensured their N-Star victory. Burke completed the race in 25:05.16 to land fifth overall, followed by senior Michael Niemi (Duluth, Minn.) in sixth place with a 25:14.12 and senior team captain Adam Craig's (Commerce, Mich.) 25:17.21 effort to finish seventh.
Freshman Chris Horel (Belford, N.J.) placed 14th with a time of 25:47.65 and sophomore William Prom (New Berlin, Wis.) ran the course in 25:58.27 to finish 15th and complete Navy's top-seven competitors.
The Midshipmen return to action on Saturday, Oct. 28, with the Patriot League Championship at Colgate's Harry Lang Course in Hamilton, N.Y. Navy was picked to repeat its third-place finish at last year's league championship in this season's preseason poll.
