UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Navy men's cross country team wrapped up its 2022 season with a solid effort at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship at Penn State University on Friday. Competing on a 10k circuit at the Penn State Cross Country Course in University Park, Pa., the Mids had a stout five-man pack to the finish line that was separated from first to fifth by 35.9 seconds. After all 26 teams and 180 runners had crossed the finish line, Navy placed five runners in the top-51 and compiled 212 team points to rank seventh overall.
Garrison Clark (Severna Park, Md.) led the Mids' individual effort as he placed in 30th position.
"As the last race for us this season, it was not our best and the team knows there was more to be had," head coach
Aaron Lanzel said after the meet. "Each man ran hard. We had a good trio in the front pack through half of the race, and when we needed to catch fire we fell, some literally, some figuratively. There is no loss of experience and strength that will carry us to the next season with some momentum. Garrison, Alex, Brett, and Mitch have a lot to be proud of for their senior season as a whole, as do Sam, Murphy, and Jack as they go for another level the next time they can tear up the cross country terrain."
Clark paced the team with a time of 30:51.2 to finish 30th overall. Alexander Rizzo (Bronxville, N.Y.) followed in 36th with a time of 31:05.6. Team captain
Brett Brady (Phoenix, Ariz.) crossed the finish line next with a time of 31:22.9 to take 45th.
Murphy Smith (Charlotte, N.C.) and
Sam Keeny (Annapolis, Md.) rounded out the scoring with times of 31:26.6 and 31:27.1 to finish 50th and 51st, respectively.
Mitchell Rome (Dallas, Pa.) and
Jack Rooney (Raleigh, N.C.) closed out Navy's seven-man team. Rome clocked a time of 31:57.2 to finish in 81st, while Rooney crossed the line in 32:17.2 for 97th.
Racing on an extended 10K course for the first time all season, the Mids received a solid start through the first check point, placing three runners – Keeny, Brady, and Rizzo – in the top 20 and retaining fifth-place through the first leg of competition.
The Midshipmen moved up to fourth overall at the second marker with Keeny move up two spots into sixth and Brady making the jump from 16th to ninth. Midway through the race, Keeny held strong at sixth, but the team slipped two places down to sixth overall. The second half of the competition saw the Mids slide seventh overall.
Navy's 30-36-45-50-51 finish by its scoring five netted the team 212 points to rank seventh overall.
Aided by individual champion Liam Murphy, Villanova topped the standings with 36 total points, placing all five scorers in the top 15. Georgetown finished second with 58 points. The Wildcats and Hoyas will receive the regionals' two automatic qualifying positions into next Saturday's NCAA Championship at Oklahoma State.
Princeton (73), La Salle (116), and Pittsburgh (127) rounded out the top five with meet-host Penn State finishing in front of the Mids with 200 points. Penn (237), George Washington (258), and Temple (278) closed out the top 10 of team scoring.
