BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Patriot League announced its weekly award winners on Tuesday and the Navy cross country program was well represented as the men's and women's teams combined to earn three of the four weekly honors. Reflective of the success both teams had at this past Friday's Navy XC Twilight meet, Miguel Mathias was named the Patriot League M-F Athletic Cross Country Male Runner of the Week, while Elizabeth Sullivan earned the Patriot League M-F Athletic Cross Country Female Runner of the Week. Freshman Carolyn Thurlby garnered the third award as she was selected as the Patriot League M-F Athletic Cross Country Female Rookie of the Week.

Mathias (Sr., Nekoosa, Wisc.) took the individual honors at the 2021 Navy XC Twilight Men's Race with a time of 23:59.93 that was the fastest of 69 runners on the 4.9-mile course. Down the stretch over the final mile, Mathias edged ahead of his teammate Garrison Clark to clock in just shy of 24 minutes at 23:59.927. Mathias' time is the seventh fastest in program history at the USNA Course. As a team, Navy netted a perfect score of 15 points and beat UMBC by 58.

The women's 6k event at the Navy XC Twilight Women's Race on Friday was all about Sullivan (Jr., Portsmouth, R.I.) as she led for the majority of the competition, including crossing the 2.75-mile marker with a time of 16:17.271, over six seconds ahead of the field before sprinting away from the pack with a scorching final section of the race. Without a competitor in sight, Sullivan recorded a time of 22:24.821 that was 30.327 seconds ahead of Loyola's Abigail Potticary, who was second at 22:55.148. As a team, Navy won the team title with a total of 21 points surpassing Patriot League foe Loyola by 50 points. 

The home contest on the USNA Cross Country Course marked the collegiate debut for Thurlby (Fr., Overland Park, Kan.). Ready for the moment, Thurlby traversed the 6k course with the lead pack for most of the race and came across the finish line comfortably in fourth place, five seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. She was the highest finishing freshman in the field and was the third counter for the Mids in terms of team scoring.

The men's and women's programs will be back in action this Friday afternoon with racing at the University of Virginia Invitational.