UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –The Navy men's cross country team completed its 2018 fall campaign with action at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship on the campus of Penn State. Racing on the 10K White Cross Country Course on Friday,
Kevin Murray (Jr., Wilmington, Del.) led the Mids as the team placed eighth overall with 261 points.
Faced with challenging conditions for the second straight meet, Murray navigated the 169-runner field a time of 31:27 that ranked 11th overall. Running with the lead pack for the majority of Friday's contest, the 2018 Patriot League Champion finished just two seconds out of a spot in the top-10 and 22 seconds behind Casey Comber's winning time. The Villanova Wildcat runner clocked in at 31:05.
Navy's upperclass continued to perform at a high level as it had all season with
Michael Karls (Sr., Festus, Mo.) and
Jake Brophy (Jr., New Hope, Pa.) coming in within 10 seconds of each other with times of 32:21 and 32:31, respectively. Karls crossed the line in 41st place, while Brophy was 44th.
Freshman
David Nelsen (Chandler, Ariz.) was the fourth Midshipmen to complete the 10K race as he finished 83rd overall at 33:06. Sophomore
Julian Perez (Beaumont, Texas) rounded out Navy's scoring lineup as he came in three seconds behind Nelsen in 88th place with a 33:09 result.
Ben Cracraft (So., Northville, Mich.) and
Miguel Mathias (Fr., Nekoosa, Wisc.) were the Mids' sixth and seventh-place finishers with respective times of 33:36 and 34:04, good for 106th and 121st overall.
In the team standings, Princeton (67 points) and Georgetown (81) earned the automatic qualifying positions in University Park. In the team standings, Princeton (67 points) and Georgetown (81) earned the automatic qualifying positions in University Park. Amongst Patriot League combatants, Navy's 261 points was tops as Bucknell (321) and Lehigh (364) placed 12th and 15th, respectively. American (18th-517), Lafayette (21st-603) and Loyola (24th-672) rounded out the group of Patriot League teams at the regional championship.
Friday's action concludes Navy's team season, while Murray awaits his fate as a potential at-large invitee to the NCAA Championship as any runner in the top-25 that is not on one of the two automatic qualifying teams will be considered for additional competition at the NCAA Championship Meet on Saturday, November 17 in Madison, Wisc.
"The team has taken a lot of hits this year, and although there is no satisfaction in eighth, there was a resilience and fight to knock down several teams that got us earlier this season," remarked head coach
Aaron Lanzel. "Kevin ran tough, and four of our seven faced their first 10k race in challenging conditions with courage. The fire is just starting for them, and they have a covenant with each other to get it roaring for the future."
