ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Riding high after completing the regular season with a sweep of Army in the annual Star Meet, the Navy men's and women's cross country teams will head into postseason competition on Sunday with action at the 2021 Patriot League Championship meets. Hosted by Lehigh University at its Goodman Campus Cross Country Course, the women will be first to the line as their 6k race is slated to begin at 11:00 a.m. before the men look to traverse an 8k course at 12 p.m. Live stats will be provided by Lehigh for both races.
The Patriot League Cross Country Championships will be held on Lehigh University's Goodman Campus for the 10th time and second within the last calendar year. The 2020-21 championships were held in Bethlehem, Pa., in March. Lehigh hosted the inaugural championship in 1990, followed by subsequent races in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and March 2021. The Army West Point men have captured the last two titles in Bethlehem, while Boston University earned the women's crown during the spring season.
Due to a restriction of movement order on the Navy Academy's campus during March of 2021, Navy's men's and women's cross country teams did not compete at the 2020-21 Patriot League Championship.
11 AM - Women's Race
Four-time Patriot League Champions, the Navy women's cross country team will be on the hunt for title number five on Sunday morning. Outright champions in 2008, 2011 and 2012, as well as co-champs in 2007, the Mids come in healthy and with a heavy dose of momentum after knocking off Army by a score of 20-35 on Oct. 15 in the 2021 Star Meet. Navy is almost always amongst the contenders with only one non top-four finish since 2003. Over the past five Patriot League meets in which they competed, the Mids have placed second in 2015, fourth in 2016, third in 2017, third in 2018 and fourth in 2019.
At the 2019 Patriot League Championship, the Mids turned in a solid performance as the squad's first four runners all placed within the top-25. As a result of these individual efforts, Navy finished fourth overall in the team standings with 90 team points.
Emily Craig ('21) led the Mids as she crossed the finish line of the 6k Harry Lang Cross Country Course on the campus of Colgate University in fourth place. Navy's next three runners that finished in the top-25 all return for this 2021 competition as
Elizabeth Sullivan ('23) came in 14th,
Lauren Moore ('23) placed 18th and
Anna Kovacs ('22) came in 25th. Sullivan was recognized on the All-Patriot League Second Team for her effort.
In this week's USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll, the Mids are ranked seventh, ahead of a pair of Patriot League squads, 13th-place Lehigh and 15th-place Bucknell. Army and Boston University find themselves ranked in the Northeast Regional Poll as the Black Knights stand 12th, while the Terriers come into the weekend in 14th.
12 PM - Men's Race
Competing in their 18th Patriot League Championship in program history, the Mids bring a winning pedigree into Saturday's race. In the 10 years between 2008 and 2017, Navy won eight league titles with a pair of runner-up results in 2012 and 2017. All-time, the Mids have eight league titles and seven second-place results, along with one third and one fourth-place outcome.
Racing on the 8k Harry Lang Cross Country Course in Hamilton, N.Y. at the 2019 Patriot League Championship, the Mids' senior duo of
Jake Brophy ('20) and
Kevin Murray ('20) left it all on the course to help spearhead the team's cause. On the strength of Brophy's first-place result and Murray's third-place effort, Navy's five scorers accounted for 40 points. Unfortunately for the Mids that total was just three points shy of Army's championship-winning 37-point score. The final standings at the meet saw Army and Navy finish first and second, respectively, over 50 points ahead of third-place Boston University, who tallied 96 points. Julian Perez ('21), Luke Murphy ('22) and Miguel Mathias ('22) gave Navy five runners in the top-16 as Perez placed eighth, while Murphy and Mathias came in 12th and 16th, respectively. The Class of '22 was also represented by three more Midshipmen in the top-25 as David Nelsen (20th), Ashwin Briggs (24th) and Grant Van Valkenburg (25th) all turned in strong individual performances.
In this week's USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll, the Mids are ranked fourth, while fellow Patriot League rivals Bucknell and Lehigh stand in 10th and 12th, respectively. In the Northeast Regional Poll, Army is ranked ninth, six spots ahead of 15th-place Boston University.
Last Time Out
Women:
A dominant pack strategy by the Navy women's cross country team led the squad to a 15-point victory over service academy rival Army in the 2021 Star Meet. Led by
Ellie Abraham's second-place individual result, Midshipmen runners crossed the finish line at Bowdoin Park consecutively in each of the next four positions as Navy totaled 20 team points versus 35 for the host Army team. The Mids' tightly packed lead group finished with an impressive top-five separation of just 31.8 seconds.
Top-5 Navy Results (2nd-3rd-4th-5th-6th): 1)
Ellie Abraham; 2)
Elizabeth Sullivan; 3)
Winter Boese; 4)
Emily Boutin; 5)
Jessica Nangle
Men:
The Navy men's cross country team led wire-to-wire and finished with seven of the top-eight runners in a dominant show of depth and excellence over Army in the 2021 Men's Cross Country Star Race on Friday, Oct. 15. Competing on a 7.6k course at Bowdoin Park, the Mids received standout performances from throughout its lineup and earned a 17-46 victory over their rivals, the Black Knights.
Brett Brady led Navy's individual effort as the junior earned a 2.3-second victory over his classmate
Garrison Clark.
Top-5 Navy Results (1st-2nd-3rd-5th-6th overall): 1)
Brett Brady; 2) Garrison Clark; 3) Sam Keeny; 4) David Nelsen; 5) Ashwin Briggs
Up Next
Following Sunday's championship race, both Navy teams will have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, hosted at this same Goodman Campuse course on Friday, Nov. 12.
