ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After an offseason of changes for the Navy women's cross country team, the Mids will get a chance on Saturday to get their 2019 season underway at the Salisbury Fall Classic. Racing at Winter Place Park in Salisbury, Saturday's action will mark the head coaching debut of Kim Lewnes. The meet begins at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday morning.

No stranger to the program, Lewnes served under Karen Boyle during the 2017 and 2018 season before taking the reins this summer following Boyle's retirement after 32 years at the helm. Lewnes had prior coaching experience as an assistant at Johns Hopkins for five seasons, as well as one season as a volunteer with her alma mater, Cornell.

After finishing third at the 2018 Patriot League Championship, the Mids will be looking to move up and challenge for the league title in 2019 with a deep and senior-laden roster. Team captain Grace West leads that group of seven seniors following a standout junior campaign. In 2018, West was either the first or second-highest finisher for Navy in all six of her appearances. In four such races, the Bison Open (1st place), Salty Dog Invitational (2nd), Army-Navy Star Meet (1st) and Patriot League Championship (4th) she placed in the top-four overall for the entire field.

Claire Ostrowski, Caitlin Schmitt, Karla Mendoza and Caroline Ascherl join West as Midshipmen, who regularly found themselves scoring the team points in races during 2018.

Ostrowski came out of the blocks in 2018 fast as the Mids' first or second-best finisher in each of their first four races of the season. After winning the Salty Dog Invitational in September, she capped this excellent start off with a second-place result versus the Black Knights of Army in the annual Star Meet. Unfortunately, for Virginia Beach native, her season concluded with that race in mid-October as injuries sidelined her for the postseason.

Two runners with similar middle-of-the-pack scoring roles for Navy are Schmitt and Mendoza. As juniors for the Mids in 2018, Schmitt finished top-seven in Navy's lineup in five of six events, while Mendoza did the same in four of five competitions. Schmitt's best results last season were highlighted by a seventh-place overall finish in the Army-Navy Meet (fourth-best on Navy) and a 50th-place result at the Patriot League Championship. Mendoza's 2018 campaign started with three straight top-20 results before culminating with Navy's fourth-best finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, 115th overall.

After injuries befell Ostrowski, Ascherl stepped up into a more prominent role in Navy's lineup in the postseason. Racing at both the Patriot League Championship and NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship as one of the Mids' starting 12, Ascherl was the team's sixth-best finisher at the Patriot League meet with a 49th-place result before crossing the line as the seventh Mid at the regional meet.

Piper Freed and Phoebe Kirk will add further depth to the squad as the sixth and seventh members of the senior class.

Navy's junior and sophomore classes provided a quartet of postseason competitors for the program in 2018. Emily Craig leads the contingent of juniors set to make their mark this season. A 2017 Patriot League Second Team honoree, Craig saw action for Navy down the stretch and turned in a pair of strong postseason performances, a 21st overall finish at the Patriot League Championship and a 103rd-place result at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. In both events, Craig was the third Midshipmen to cross the line.

Amongst Navy's sophomore class, the trio of Kathleen Murphy, Maddie Warrender and Meghan Sculli held the banner as rookies last season. Appearing in five races for the Mids as a freshman in 2018, Murphy was the team's fifth-best finisher at Penn State's Spiked Shoe Invitational and eighth at the Salty Dog Invitational. She was also a member of the team's starting 12 at the Patriot League Championship. Warrender competed six times for Navy last season and finished in the team's top-seven at both the Patriot League Championship and the Paul Short Run. In a season-best performance, Warrender crossed the line in 47th place at the league championship, good for fifth on the team. Sculli, was the third Mid, who turned in solid results as freshman. In three of her five races in 2018, Sculli was one of the top-10 Midshipmen finishers. At the Patriot League Championship, she completed the 6K event in 71st place.