LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Navy women's cross country team found itself in a battle with nine talented Patriot League programs, as well as menacing weather conditions on Saturday in Lewisburg at the 2018 Patriot League Women's Cross Country Championship. Racing on a 6K course on the campus of Bucknell University, the Mids used a strong fourth-place individual result by junior
Grace West (Pinehurst, N.C.) to finish third overall in team standings.
A member of the lead pack throughout the race, West clocked in first at the first checkpoint after 1.85K with a time of 6:19.8. The junior was overtaken during the next 2.05K stanza and settled into fourth place down the stretch. A close sprint to the finish line saw American's Adriana Hooks edge West by 1.5 seconds at 21:55.2 to 21:56.7 to attain third place. Bucknell's Colleen Buckley was the overall winner at 21:41.5.
Ali Valenti (Lansdale, Pa.) was the Mids' second finisher on Saturday as she placed 16th overall with a 22:29.8 result. The senior was slightly over six seconds behind Lehigh's Nicole Abbondandelo, who grabbed the final All-Patriot League position. The conference labels the top-seven finishers with All-Patriot League First Team status, while finishers eight through 14 garner All-Patriot League Second Team laurel.
In her first competition of the fall season, sophomore
Emily Craig (Reistertown, Md.) made a triumphant return as she clocked in with a time of 22:44.8 that was good for 21st overall.
Racing in her final Patriot League Championship, senior
Rachel Fairbanks (Jamesville, N.Y.) placed 30th with a 23:02.3 time.
A trio of Midshipmen finished in tight pack back in positions 47, 49 and 50 as
Maddie Warrender (Fr., Mount Wolf, Pa.) turned in 23:20.0 time that was 0.6 seconds ahead of
Caroline Ascherl's (Jr., Granville, Iowa) 23:20.6.
Caitlin Schmitt (Jr., Evergreen, Colo.) placed 50th at 23:21.6.
In the team standings, Bucknell defended its Patriot League Championship with 33 points as the host Bison placed all five of its scorers in the top-10. Lehigh finished second in the standings with 73 points ahead of Navy and the Mids' 111 points. Boston University and Army came in closely behind Navy with point totals of 113 and 117, respectively. American (145 points), Holy Cross (209), Lafayette (210), Loyola (251) and Colgate (282) rounded out the standings in positions six through 10.
"This wasn't quite the overall result that we had hoped for, but the women competed tough through 2-3 inch puddles and mud; it was grueling out there today," remarked head coach
Karen Boyle. "Grace raced well, as she has all season. Ali was impressive coming off a bad ankle sprain last week. Having Emily back helped us score points up front."
Navy will have two weeks to prepare for its next meet, the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship at Penn State on Friday, Nov. 9.