BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Navy women's cross country team completed its 2019 campaign with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship at Lehigh University on Friday. Racing as one of 31 teams on the 6k Goodman Campus Cross Country Course, the Mids saw four of its runners finish in the top-90, including a team-best performance by junior Emily Craig (Reistertown, Md.), who posted a 31st-place result. Navy came in meet ranked 12th in the region in the latest USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll.
 
Craig was consistently near the lead pack throughout the 6k race as she hovered between positions 19 to 31 at each checkpoint. She was fast out of the gate initially with the 19th-best time over the first one-mile span with a time of 5:32.1. Her next two checkpoint times were 11:04.9 (2M) and 13:56.0 (4K). Down the stretch she completed the final 2,000 meters for a final time of 20:56.6. Craig was just 1.7 seconds out of breaking into the top-30. She was the top-finishing Patriot League runner at the championship meet as Bucknell's Ashley Blair was the next conference rival to cross the finish line in 43rd place at 21:11.8.
 
A trio of underclassmen finished within 22 positions of each other as Elizabeth Sullivan (Fr., Portsmouth, R.I.) placed 67th at 21:42.1, 12 spots ahead of sophomore Maddie Warrender (Mount Wolf, Pa.) in 79th with a time of 21:54.0. The final Midshipmen in this fast and young group was Lauren Moore (Fr., Danbury, Conn.) in 89th place with a 22:02.2 result. All three of these athletes made up important ground over the final 2,000 meters as Sullivan passed six runners, while Warrender and Moore passed 23 and 17 runners, respectively.
 
The final scorer for Navy on Friday was sophomore Anna Kovacs (Toledo, Ohio), who completed the 6,000 meters in a time of 22:23.9, good for 112th place.
 
"Our women really raced well today with a host of personal bests," remarked head coach Kim Lewnes. "Our youth got a chance to shine today as our top-seven finishers consisted of two freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors. The experience they got this postseason will undoubtedly pay dividends in their individual success and our program's future."
 
Villanova's Lydia Olivere was the individual champion as she turned in a time of 20:02.0, fastest of 208 runners at the event. In the team standings, Penn State and Villanova earned the region's automatic qualifying berths to next week's NCAA Championship meet with respective team scores of 73 and 77. Georgetown and Princeton were close behind in third and fourth place with 91 and 93 points. Amongst Patriot League teams, Navy was one spot back of Bucknell, who placed 11th with 337 points. The 12th-place Mids accumulated 378 points.