EARLYSVILLE, Va. – The Navy men's cross country program continued its fast start to the 2021 season with its third team title in three weeks as the Mids raced up the standings at the Virginia Invitational and turned in four top-seven individual results. Taking on an eight-team field, including four regionally-ranked programs, the Mids finished seven points better than the host Cavaliers with a 31-38 advantage in cumulative team points. For the second straight week, Miguel Mathias (Sr., Nekoosa, Wisc.) was the top finishing Navy individual as he placed second overall in the field of 75 runners in the 8k race at Panorama Farms.
 
In the team standings, Navy and Virginia were 40-plus points ahead of their competitors as William & Mary placed third with 79 points. High Point and East Carolina rounded out the top-five with point totals of 89 and 134, respectively. The final three teams in the standings consisted of Norfolk State (174 pts), Marshall (211) and Longwood (242).

"There were some very good runners in the field for our runners to measure themselves against today," remarked head coach Aaron Lanzel. "The humidity took its toll on a large number of competitors and it was inspiring to see our guys' toughness close down the last mile for the win.

"Brett Brady ran fearless early on and was able to finish well. Miguel showed great patience to challenge the rest of the way and lead the team. Garrison had another great week, while David Nelsen took down 15 runners the last 3k with Ashwin taking down 10 to put a solid five scorers up. We still haven't quite put all of the pieces together, so there's some anticipation of what our top-12 can do later this season."
 
One week after winning the Navy XC Twilight Race, Mathias was in the lead pack throughout as he crossed the 3k checkpoint in sixth place with a split time of 9:00.2 before moving up to third at the 5k marker with a 15:04.3 time. Over the final 3k portion of the race, the senior moved up one more position to cross the final line with a time of 24:19.2, 4.5 seconds shy of Virginia's Rohann Asfaw's victorious time of 24:14.7.
 
Brett Brady (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) was at the forefront of the Navy's effort on Friday as he was in first place at both the 3k and 5k markers with times of 8:59.6 and 15:00.0, respectively. Overtaken in the final 3k, Brady held on for the best individual performance of his career as he finished in fourth place with an overall time of 24:32.5.
 
Garrison Clark (Jr., Severna Park, Md.) gave the Mids three runners in the top-five as he raced through the standings and moved from 21st place after the first 3k up to seventh at the 5k checkpoint before closing the competition in fifth place at 24:37.1.
 
David Nelsen (Sr., Chandler, Ariz.) and Ashwin Briggs (Sr., Pickerington, Ohio) were the final two Midshipmen to tally points for Navy on Friday. Tightly packed at the 5k marker in 22nd and 23rd place, respectively, Nelsen and Briggs dashed through the field over the final 3k as Nelsen moved up to seventh with a final time of 24:51.2, while Briggs was 8.4 seconds back in 13th with a 24:59.6 effort.
 
Sam Keeny (So., Annapolis, Md.) and Alex Rizzo (Jr., Bronxville, N.Y.) finished back-to-back in 15th and 16th place with respective times of 25:13.5 and 25:16.0. Grant Van Valkenburg (Sr., Duvall, Wash.) gave Navy eight runners in the top-20 as he crossed with a time of 25:29.8 that was 18th best in the field.
 
Navy will step away from competition next weekend before seeing action at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa. on Friday, Oct. 1.