BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Navy men's cross country team turned in a dominant performance on Sunday at the 2021 Patriot League Championship with a wire-to-wire victory. Competing on a 8k circuit on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course at Lehigh University, the Midshipmen were a force as they had five runners in the top-11 throughout the race before closing down the competition with six runners in the top-seven in the final standings. Navy's stout pack effort helped the Mids posted a team score of 20 points, the second lowest in the history of the Patriot League Championship. Led by Miguel Mathias (Sr., Nekoosa, Wisc.) and Brett Brady (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) finishing second and third, respectively, the Mids are now nine-time Patriot League champions.
 
"This is such a great joy for our team today to put an exclamation point on the conference meet this year," remarked head coach Aaron Lanzel. "Miguel is coming back to himself now in time to peak for regionals. Garrison and Sam are becoming quite dependable at the front of the action. Brett ran tough and didn't have his best day, but he was good by all other standards. Ashwin has been very steady this season and was again today. That was a huge performance by John Bowers to be All-Patriot League First Team. Murphy Smith is showing he is already a contender as he gets better every race. These guys are excellent at enduring suffering and are hungry for a little more."
 
Brady broke out early as the leader through the first checkpoint at one mile. The junior posted a time of 4:52.0 during this initial segment of the race, just one-tenth of a second ahead of his teammate Sam Keeny (So., Annapolis, Md.). Mathias made it three Mids in the top-four as he was 0.2 seconds behind Keeny at 4:52.3. As a team, Navy was up 10 points over Army, 27-37 at this early point of the competition.
 
The next checkpoint in the race came at the 3.9-mile mark and saw Army edge two points closer to the Mids, 27-35. The same three Navy runners held positions in the top-five at this point of the race with Mathias crossing at 19:43.0, good for second place overall. Brady and Keeny clocked in at 19:55.3 and 19:58.5, respectively in fourth and fifth. Garrison Clark (So., Severna Park, Md.) joined the lead Navy pack as he was 0.4 seconds off of Keeny's pace in sixth place.
 
Over the final five minutes of the meet, the Mids gathered and became a stout pack of six runners. Coming to the line, the group finished within 15.3 seconds of each other with Mathias coming in second overall with a time of 25:06.4 and John Bowers (Sr., Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) placing seventh at 25:21.7. In between those Navy seniors, Brady placed third with a 25:13.7 time ahead of Keeny and Clark, who were separated by 0.3 seconds in fourth and fifth place at 25:16.0 and 25:16.3. Team captain Ashwin Briggs (Sr., Pickerington, Ohio) made his presence felt as he passed seven competitors in this last segment on his way to a sixth-place result of 25:21.3. That stronghold of Navy runners helped the squad post a team score of 20 points, 35 clear of second-place Army.
 
David Nelsen (Sr., Chandler, Ariz.) and Murphy Smith (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.) also finished with award-winning efforts as Nelsen finished in 14th place with a 25:32.3 run, while Smith was the top-placing freshman in 17th at 25:42.9.
 
Following Navy and Army (55) in the team standings on Sunday were Boston University in third with 80 points, Lafayette in fourth with 134 and Lehigh in fifth with 139 points. Bucknell (140), Loyola (183), American (236), Holy Cross (270) and Colgate (315) rounded out the conference leaderboard.
 
In the post-meet awards ceremony, the top-six placing Mids all earned All-Patriot League First Team nods. For his 14th-place finish, Nelsen garnered a spot on the All-Patriot League Second Team. The six All-Patriot League First Team honorees sets a new program record as Navy had previously had four First Teamers in 2015 and 2016. For his squad's effort Head Coach Aaron Lanzel was named the 2021 Patriot League Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. Additionally, Smith was recognized as the Men's Rookie of the Meet.
 
Navy will be back in action in Bethlehem, Pa. in less than two weeks as the Mids will return to the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course for action at the 2021 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship on Friday, Nov. 12.

Navy Patriot League Championships (9)
2008 Co-Champions, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021