Sept. 10, 2011
Results
NEW MARKET, Va. - Led by Jess Palacio's first-place finish, the Navy women's cross country team won its second consecutive team title on Saturday as it claimed the James Madison Open Invitational crown. Navy just edged host JMU, 26-29, in the five-team field.
"We went out hard in the first mile," said Navy head coach Karen Boyle. "Last week we were able to keep everyone together through one mile and this week we kept our pack together through two miles. Even though we came out hard, we were able to stay together longer and finish really well."
For Palacio, it was her second consecutive individual title. The Sun Valley, Nev., native finished the 5.2K course in 19:06.4 - over seven seconds ahead of JMU's Katie Harmon, who took second place in the field of 63 participants. For her career, Palacio now has six individual titles.
In all, Navy put five runners in the top eight on Saturday, including freshman Annie-Norah Beveridge who took fourth with a time of 19:27.8.
Brigid Byrne led a trio of Mids across the finish line to secure the sixth through eighth spots. Byrne posted a 19:36.2, while Shannon Cuthbert followed with a 19:44.0 and Katie Taylor claimed eighth place with a 19:46.9.
"Annie, Brigid, Shannon and Katie were crucial today," said Boyle. "Annie made a big pass for fourth place at the end and then I thought we held them off extremely well."
Christina Blair placed 11th with a 20:25.0 to take 11th and Liz Milewski ran a 20:53.10 and took 15th to round out Navy's top seven.
Entering Saturday's meet, Navy was ranked ninth in the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic region poll, while JMU was slotted fifth in the Southeast region.
"We were actually trailing at the three-mile mark, but our confidence and competitive fire has grown through the past two weeks," said Boyle. "Each week we're just trying to be stronger and hold our pack together for a longer period of time."
Navy will host its only home meet of the fall next Saturday as the annual Salty Dog Invitational will begin at approximately 11:30 a.m. at the USNA Golf Club.
Team Scores
1. U.S. Naval Academy - 26
2. James Madison University - 29
3. Mary Washington - 106
3. Longwood - 106
5. Bridgewater - 122
