Oct. 18, 2008
Results | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy men's cross country runner Andrew Hanko (So./Montville, N.J.) produced the second-best time of the day, but it would just not enough as the Midshipmen dropped a narrow 27-28 decision to Army in the Star Meet on Saturday morning at the USNA Cross Country Course. The Mids fell to 0-1 in dual-scored meets, while the Black Knights improved their mark to 1-1.
With the score tied after the first-two runners of both teams crossing the finish line, Army and Navy alternated places for each of the next-four spots, with the Black Knights claiming the faster clocking each time. Trailing 17-19 with one scoring runner remaining for each squad, Navy's Andrew Grant (Sr./Athens, Ga.) crossed the finish line in ninth place. Needing a Navy runner to place 10th for a 28-28 tie or 10th and 11th for a 28-29 win, Army's Greg Griffith grabbed the 10th-place slot to give the Black Knights the one-point victory.
"It was a great race with no real surprises," stated Navy head coach Al Cantello. "Even with our third man out, I thought we could still take them and we almost did. Arter their top runners, our strategy was to push Army's fourth and fifth runners back to 10th and 11th place."
The setback in the Star Meet for Navy was just its third over the last-12 years and the fourth ever on the USNA Cross Country Course in Annapolis.
Army's Jonathan Anderson, who advanced to the NCAA Championship last year, topped the field of 24 runners with a time of 24:02.8.
Hanko averaged a 4:56.2 mile over the 8k course to finish in second place with a time of 24:32.2. Team captain Bill Prom (Sr./New Berlin, Wis.) followed in third place with a 24:35.7 showing.
Rookie Ken Bunnell (Fr./St. Johnsbury, Va.) emerged with an impressive sixth-place time of 24:54.7, edging Army team captain Andrew Catalano by 0.6-second. Matthew De Villers (So./Menomonee Falls, Wis.) completed the race in 24:58.0 for eighth place, followed by Grant's 25:03.5 showing for ninth overall.
Navy, the preseason pick to win the Patriot League, will begin the championship portion of the season on Saturday, Nov. 1, when it heads to the Patriot League Championship at the Lehigh Cross Country Course in Bethlehem, Pa.
