ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Racing on their home course for the first time this season, the Navy women's cross country team turned in a dominant performance and collected both the individual and team titles on Saturday. Juniors Claire Ostrowski (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Grace West (Pinehurst, N.C.) took the top-two spots in the 6K race at the USNA Cross Country Course. On their way to the team title, the Mids placed six runners in the top-seven against a field of 77 runners and six schools.
 
"We continue to make steady progress toward our two main goals of Beating Army and winning the Patriot League Championship," remarked head coach Karen Boyle. "Claire and Grace led a very strong pack. Congrats to Claire for the individual win and congrats to the rest of the girls for having the guts to always put their max effort out there!"
 
Racing versus Maryland, Towson, Loyola, UMBC and Bowie State, Ostrowski and West paced the field with sub-6:00 mile averages on Saturday. The runner-up at last year's Salty Dog Invitational, Ostrowski held off West down the stretch to secure the 1.38-second victory, 22:17.10 to 22:18.48. 
 
Maryland's Christine Laurie broke up the run of Midshipmen athletes crossing the finish line as she placed third at 22:52.95.
 
The tightly packed trio of Rachel Fairbanks (Sr., Jamesville, N.Y.), Erin McDonnell (Sr., Traverse City, Mich.) and Karla Mendoza (Jr., Madison, Neb.) came in fourth, fifth and sixth with respective times of 23:08.40, 23:09.93 and 23:16.49. Ali Valenti (Sr., Lansdale, Pa.) gave Navy its sixth runner in the top-seven with a 23:36.35 result.
 
Annika Pearson (Sr., Glen Ellyn, Ill.) just missed clocking in under the 24-minute milestone as she posted a 24:02.70 time, good for 14^th overall.  
 
In total, 11 of the 26 Midshipmen in action on Saturday finished in the top-20.
 
The final team standings saw Navy finish in first with 18 points. Maryland placed second with 73 points before Towson (84), UMBC (94) and Loyola (95) rounded out the top-five. Bowie State came in sixth with 190 points. 
 
"I'm very excited to see how far this team can go this year; their strong support for each other is paying tremendous dividends," said Boyle.
 
Navy will be back in action in two weeks in Bethlehem, Pa. at the Paul Short Invitational.