Oct. 12, 2007
Results
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Navy women's cross country runner Amy Watson (So./Hampstead, Md.) led all competitors across the finish line as the Midshipmen defeated Army, 23-38, to claim the N-Star at the West Point Golf Course on Friday afternoon.
With the victory, Navy maintains its perfect dual-meet record this season, upping its mark to 4-0. The Midshipmen also improved their all-time advantage over the Black Knights to 13-9 with Friday's win.
Navy's 15-point win over Army ranks as the second-largest margin of victory in program history at West Point, only topped by a 16-45 triumph in 1989. The Midshipmen also snapped a five-meet skid to the Black Knights in West Point, dating back to the 1997 season.
"With the added strength in our workouts coming into today, I think we were ready this year and well prepared for the course and the elements," stated Navy head coach Karen Boyle. "Amy (Watson) did a great job breaking up Army's top runners and the rest of the pack ran very well together."
Racing at temperatures in the mid-50's with winds gusting to 30 mph following rainfall in the morning, Watson finished the 6k course in 24:06 to post her first meet title and mark the first time she has led the Mids across the finish line in her young career. The Navy sophomore crossed the finish line 12 seconds ahead of Army's top runner, Meghan Curran.
After Army grabbed the second- and third-place positions, a pack of six Navy runners finished within 27 seconds of another to claim each of the next-six spots. Arwyn Becker (Sr./Vail, Colo.), Navy's top runner in each of the last-three meets, placed fourth with a time of 24:31, soon followed by Lexa Gass's (So./Crescent, Pa.) 24:32 clocking for fifth place. Team captain Kyleigh Millhouse (Sr./Boiling Springs, Pa.) placed sixth with a 24:46 showing and Erica Ziel (So./Saginaw, Mich.) rounded out the scoring five with an seventh-place time of 24:48.
Navy's two displacing runners, Maureen Dooley (So./Durham, Conn.) and Vicki Moore (Sr./Burke, Va.), also finished among the top-10 competitors. Dooley crossed the finish line in 24:53 for eight place, five seconds ahead of Burke's 24:58 ninth-place showing.
With the men's team defeating Army, 23-35, earlier in the day, the Navy cross country teams swept the Black Knights in West Point for the third time in school history. The prior two occasions came in 1989 and 1991. The two N-Star victories for the cross country teams on Friday upped Navy's overall record against Army this season to 4-1 and 3-1 in Star contests.
The Midshipmen will conclude their regular season when they head to Easton, Pa., for the Lafayette Invitational, starting at 10 a.m. Two weeks later on Saturday, Oct. 27, the Mids head back to Lafayette's Metzgar Fields for the 2007 Patriot League Championship.
