ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Competing at its annual Navy Invitational, the Navy women's cross country team found itself in a tight battle on Saturday with the East Carolina Pirates for the right to call themselves champions. With Pirates and Mids occupying all ten of the spots in the top-10, a sweep of the first four positions by the visitors from Greenville, N.C. gave ECU the title. Freshman Elizabeth Sullivan (Portsmouth, R.I.) continued her strong rookie season as she led the Mids with a fifth-place individual result on Saturday.
 
Running on the women's 6k loop at the USNA Cross Country Course, Sullivan broke away from her teammates late to cross the finish line with a time of 22:59.10.
 
Working on their pack racing, a quartet of Midshipmen finished in close proximity starting with Anna Kovacs (So., Toledo, Ohio) in eighth with a 23:20.01 effort. Emily Craig (Jr., Reistertown, Md.) was just 0.85 seconds behind Kovacs at 23:20.86. Maddie Warrender (So., Mount Wolf, Pa.) and Claire Ostrowski (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) rounded out this initial pack of Navy runners in 10th and 11th place with times of 23:25.89 and 23:27.76, respectively.
 
Julia Galbraith (Fr., Glen Allen, Va.) and Lauren Moore (Fr., Danbury, Conn.) were the final two Mids to finish in the top-15 as they went back-to-back in 14th and 15th. Galbraith clocked in at 23:46.39, while Moore was 0.06 seconds back at 23:46.45.
 
In total, 24 Midshipmen athletes competed on Saturday as part of the field of 65 runners.
 
On the strength of six top-seven finishes, the ECU Pirates recorded a team score of 16 points. Navy placed second with 43 points, while UMBC was third with 82. Millersville University rounded out the standings with 120 points. Northern Virginia CC, Bowie State and McDaniel had individual entrants in the race, but did not post a team score.
 
"I'm pleased with where the women are at this point in the season," remarked head coach Kim Lewnes. "We have been training through these early season meets as we prepare for the competitive races ahead."
 
Navy will continue early season racing next Friday at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown. The competition in Boston is slated for 3:00 p.m. start.