EARLYSVILLE, Va. – Racing for the third time in three weeks, the Navy women's cross country team faced its toughest task to date when the Mids took on a D1 regional field at the Virginia Invitational. One of eight teams participating in the 5k race at the Panorama Farms course, the Mids used three top-10 individual results to finish second overall in the team standings.
Ellie Abraham (So., Brookings, S.D.) was the top placing runner from Navy on Friday as she clocked in at 17:48.8, that was fifth-best in the field of 83 runners.
The host Cavaliers won the team title with 17 combined points on the strength of six top-10 efforts. Navy placed second with 48 points, while East Carolina came in third, 55 points back with 103 total points. High Point and William & Mary rounded out the top-five with totals of 109 and 138 points, respectively. The final three teams in the standings were Maryland (142 pts), Marshall (159) and Longwood (257).
"UVA hosted a great meet today," remarked head coach
Kim Lewnes. "We saw some good competition from the Southeast region and received an important early-season test. We still have some work to do, but we're headed in the right direction.
"The race went out quick, but our team kept its composure and our final results reflect that with our top-five scorers finishing within 35 seconds. Ellie stayed tough throughout the race to lead our team to a second place finish."
Racing in the top-10 throughout the 5k course, Abraham led the Mids' lineup of runners at the 2k marker with a 6:55.4 time that was 10th overall before moving into fifth place at the 4.1k checkpoint at 14:50.3. She held that fifth place position over the last section of the race and crossed the finish line with a time of 17:48.8.
Less than six seconds behind Abraham was
Elizabeth Sullivan (Jr., Portsmouth, R.I.), who was moving up the standings throughout the 5k. After checking in 19th at the 2k marker, Sullivan advanced through the field to finish eighth overall at 17:54.5.
Winter Boese (Jr., Clark, Colo.) was the third Midshipmen to finish the event at Panorama Farms as she raced through her competitors going from 23rd place at the 2k checkpoint to 12th at the 4.1k mark. Down the stretch, she improved two more positions to finish 10th overall with a time of 18:03.3.
Emily Boutin (So., Chicopee, Mass.) and
Maddie Warrender (Sr., Mount Wolf, Pa.) were the final two scorers for Navy's effort as they came in 13th and 17th place respectively with times of 18:08.8 and 18:23.7.
The duo of
Jessica Nangle (Sr., Southampton, Pa.) and
Kelly Murray (Fort Washington, Pa.) gave the Mids seven runners in the top-25. The teammates finished within 3.6 seconds of each other as Nangle placed 20th at 18:30.3, while Murray was 21st with a 18:33.9 time.
Navy will take a week off from competition before stepping to the starting line at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa. on Friday, Oct. 1.
