ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After a truncated fall 2020 campaign, the Navy women's cross country program is energized and ready to go out and compete in its first full season in nearly two years. Under the direction of third-year head coach Kim Lewnes, the Mids' depth will get a chance to shine on Saturday in the Salisbury Fall Classic. Navy's 12-person freshmen class and a host of other young runners will be looking to gain their first experiences of competing in a collegiate race at Winter Place Park beginning at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Navy's 2021 team returns six of its top-seven finishers from its competitions versus Pittsburgh and Army last fall. Team captain Jessica Nangle is at the forefront of that talented group of returners after breaking through with a second place result against the Panthers and a fourth against the Black Knights, both were second-best amongst Navy runners. She will be joined by five other seniors this fall, including a trio of experienced starters in the form of Maddie Warrender, Anna Kovacs and Kathleen Murphy. Suiting up 14 times for the Mids since her freshman year in 2018, Warrender has produced solid results for Navy throughout her career with a personal-best fourth place finish at the 2020 season opener against Pittsburgh. Additionally, she's scored for Navy in both of her previous two Patriot League Championships in 2018 and 2019. Similar to Warrender, Kovacs has been a member of Navy's starting squad on 13 different occasions during her first three years with the Midshipmen. She'll be looking to recapture the success that she posted in the second half of her 2019 season when she scored for the Mids as one of their fourth- or fifth-best finishers in each of the last four races. Murphy is the third member of the Class of '22 with double-digit career starts to her names as she has broke with the starter's pistol 11 times as a Mid. Bronte Bacchetta and Isabell Baltimore round out Navy's senior class set to compete this fall.

One of the top freshman runners back in 2019, Elizabeth Sullivan returns for her junior season alongside seven other classmates. An All-Patriot League Second Team honoree and three-time PL Rookie of the Week in 2019, Sullivan posted a pair of top-six results in Navy's abridged 2020 season placing sixth against Pittsburgh and a fifth against Army. Amongst the Mids' returning juniors Lael Flores had the next best results last fall as she crossed the finish line fifth versus the Panthers and eighth against the Black Knights. Winter Boese, Lauren Moore and Alanna Julius all were important pieces of Navy's mid-pack effort with Boese recording a career-best eighth place result against Pittsburgh on Oct. 2, as well as finishing as the sixth-best Mid against Army on Oct. 17. Moore will look to continue building on her collegiate resume that includes a seventh place effort at the 2019 Star Meet and an 18th place finish at that year's Patriot League Championship. After not competing as a freshman in 2019, Julius debuted in 2020 and placed 14th versus Pittsburgh and 17th against Army. Fellow junior Julia Galbraith also saw action in 2020 as she represented the Mids in their season opener against the Panthers; she finished 19th overall in the field.

Seven sophomores return in 2021 after getting a small taste of collegiate racing last fall. The duo of Ellie Abraham and Emily Boutin headline the class as both were integral parts of the Mids' starting lineup out of the gates with Abraham cruising to a six-plus second victory in her first collegiate event and Boutin finishing as one of the top-seven Navy runners in both competitions. McKenna Brophy was the only other sophomore that returns this fall with at least one race of experience under her belt as she ran against Pittsburgh in the season opener.

Lewnes has 12 freshmen, who will be in competition for action this fall. This Saturday will mark the first chance for those newcomers to test themselves against collegiate competition at the Salisbury Fall Classic. In total, Navy is scheduled to run in eight events this fall with the Army-Navy Star Meet on Oct. 15, the Patriot League Championship on Oct. 31 and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 12 highlighting the slate.