BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Competing against a deep and talented field of teams and athletes from across the country at the 2021 Paul Short Run on Friday, the Navy men's cross country team placed tenth overall amongst 40 programs in the collegiate gold race. Running on the 8k cross country course at Lehigh's Goodman Complex, the Mids were led by Brett Brady (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) and three of his teammates finishing in the top-65 to finish with 311 cumulative team points. Brady placed 26th overall in the field of 357 competitors.
 
The junior Midshipman was the top finisher on Friday as he averaged a 4:48.9 per mile pace on his way to an 8k time of 23:55.9. In a tight pack at the end of the race, Brady was less than 10 seconds out of the top-12 and slightly over 25 seconds off of Utah State's Caleb Garnica's winning time of 23:29.4.
 
Team captain Ashwin Briggs (Sr., Pickerington, Ohio) headlined a trio of Navy runners that finished within 13 positions of each other as he crossed the finish line in 52nd place with a time of 24:19.9. Fellow senior David Nelsen (Chandler, Ariz.) was 10 places back in 62nd as he posted a time of 24:27.2. Garrison Clark (Jr., Severna Park, Md.) came in 2.8 seconds after Nelsen as he finished with a 24:30.0 result, good for 65th overall.
 
Sophomore Sam Keeny (So., Annapolis, Md.) was the fifth and final scorer for Navy on Friday as he clocked in at 24:55.6 to place 118th in the field.
 
Miguel Mathias (Sr., Nekoosa, Wisc.), Mitchell Rome (Jr., Dallas, Pa.) and Grant Van Valkenburg (Sr., Duvall, Wash.) gave Navy eight runners in the top-175. Mathias finished 137th with a 25:04.4 time, while Rome was 169th at 25:17.9. Van Valkenburg was less than a second behind at 25:18.7 that ranked him 172th overall.
 
In the team standings, No. 23(t) North Carolina edged No. 23(t) Villanova by one point to earn the team title with a cumulative score of 56 versus 57 for the Wildcats. Princeton and No. 16 Utah State found themselves in a tight battle for third place with respective totals of 74 and 77 points. Stony Brook rounded out the top-five with 210 points.
 
Amongst Patriot League entrants Navy was second behind Army, who tallied 298 points courtesy of five runners in the top-76. Boston University trailed Navy as the third Patriot League team with 480 points, good for 16th overall. Bucknell (653 pts) and Lehigh (803 pts) were the next two Patriot League programs in the standings placing 22nd and 26th, respectively.
 
In the men's open 8k that was held earlier in the day without team scoring, freshman Murphy Smith (Charlotte, N.C.) finished 11th overall with a time of 24:51.5. His teammate John Bowers (Sr., Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) came in five spots back in 16th with a time of 25:12.9.

"Our guys have demonstrated their great capabilities this season, but not today," remarked head coach Aaron Lanzel. "This was a great field of teams to compete against today and we missed the midseason opportunity to make some waves. Every man on the squad has something they need to resolve and we look to do that as we head into the final stretch of the XC season. I can't fault Brett today, he took some risks and ran strong. Murphy Smith also deserves some recognition for his efforts in the open race."
 
Navy will take next weekend off from competition before ramping up its efforts for the 2021 Star Meet. The Mids and Black Knights of Army will race in a head-to-head showdown at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. on Friday, October 15 at 4:30 p.m.