WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. - The battle for the 2019 Women's Cross Country Star will go down in the record books as the 5.6k race came down to one position and one point. Running at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, the host Black Knights edged the Mids by the slimmest of margins, 27-28. Both teams finished with five runners each in the top-10, but consecutive scorers in spots three, four, five and six helped Army to the one-point victory. Navy's duo of
Emily Craig (Jr., Reistertown, Md.) and
Elizabeth Sullivan (Fr., Portsmouth, R.I.) were the class of the 24-runner field as they finished first and second overall, nine seconds clear of Army's Mika Andrews, who placed third.
Coming into Friday's race having run against each other twice before this season with the Mids finishing ahead of the Black Knights at the Battle in Beantown before Army returned the favor at the Paul Short Run, both teams knew that the 2019 Star was completely up for grabs. Craig and Sullivan did their best to give Navy an early advantage as the pair sprinted out to the front and crossed each of the first two checkpoints, 1.6k and 3.1k, in first and second place respectively. Leading Sullivan by 8.0 seconds at the 3.1k marker, Craig increased her margin of victory over her teammate to 11.1 seconds with a final time of 19:33.1. Sullivan cruised uncontested into second place at 19:44.2. The first Army runner to cross the finish line was Andrews at 19:53.2.
The Black Knights overcame the Mids' early dominance as Samantha Coletti, Ramsey Wagner and Alexandra Gibbs followed Andrews in quick succession. Including Andrews all four of Army's runners finished within 11.8 seconds of each other.
Unfazed, Navy kept fighting and evened the real-time scoring at 18-18 as
Lauren Moore (Fr., Danbury, Conn.) and
Anna Kovacs (So., Toledo, Ohio) went back-to-back in seventh and eighth place. The Mids runners posted times of 20:10.9 and 20:12.8, respectively.
With the score knotted the next runner to cross the finish line would seal the victory and close their respective team's scoring. Unfortunately for the visitors from Annapolis, Army's Jordan Jones clocked in with a time of 20:19.3 to place ninth overall and give the Black Knights 27 points. Navy's
Caitlin Schmitt (Sr., Evergreen, Colo.) out-sprinted Army's Dominique Schultz to claim tenth place by 0.4 seconds. Schmitt finished the 5.6k in 20:25.4, just ahead of Schultz' 20:25.8.
Seniors
Karla Mendoza (Madison, Neb.) and
Piper Freed (Middletown, Del.) were the next two Midshipmen to finish as they clocked in at 20:32.0 and 20:35.9, good for 13th and 14th place overall.
"We fought so hard today, but came up short," remarked head coach
Kim Lewnes. "The girls left it all out there. We can't change this outcome, but I know that the girls are motivated more than ever heading into the Patriot League Championship after today."
Friday's one-point margin of victory mirrored two previous Women's Cross Country Star Meets, 1996: 27-28 Navy and 2017: 27-28 Army.
In the all-time series, Navy leads Army, 21-13.
Accompanied with the Navy men winning their cross country competition over Army on Friday the 2019-20 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA remains tied at 3-3-1 through seven athletic contests.
Navy will now turn its entire focus towards postseason racing. Next up for the Mids is the 2019 Patriot League Championship at Colgate University on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Hamilton, N.Y.
