BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Patriot League announced its weekly cross country accolades and Navy swept the awards, as announced by the conference on Tuesday morning.
Murphy Smith was selected as the Men's Runner of the Week, while
Emily Boutin claimed Women's Runner of the Week distinction. Freshmen
Owen Ahten and
Brianna Newell were named Men's and Women's Rookie of the Week, respectively.
The quartet helped the Midshipmen sweep the annual Navy Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 9. Smith finished in step with teammates
Alexander Kirkland,
Sam Keeny, and
Jackson Nguyen to lead the Mids to a team-low 15 points. Boutin won the women's 6K individual title, while Newell was the top performing Navy freshman. Ahten finished as the Open 5K medalist as the Midshipmen won all three races on the day.
Murphy Smith, Men's Runner of the Week
Smith officially finished in first place overall at the Navy Invitational to lead the Midshipmen to a commanding victory in the meet. The junior clocked a winning time of 25:04.30 in the 4.9-mile race. He, along with teammates Kirkland, Keeny, Nguyen, and
Justin Mumford, led the Mids, finishing first through fifth with just 4.5 seconds separating the Navy pack for a low score of 15 to win the meet by 38 points over second-place George Washington.
Emily Boutin, Women's Runner of the Week
Boutin finished as the individual medalist at the Navy Invitational, helping the Midshipmen earn a team victory in the 6K meet. The senior team captain clocked a time of 20:50.51 to win the race by nearly a minute (58.28 seconds) over teammate
Ellie Abraham. Her time was the second-fastest performance on the USNA Cross Country Course coming just 4.28 seconds shy of the course record set in 2013. Boutin's first-place finish helped Navy to a team-low score of 39 to win the event by 11 points over second-place George Washington.
Owen Ahten, Men's Rookie of the Week
Ahten won the Open 5K event at the Navy Cross Country Invitational with a time of 16:17.56. The rookie claimed the event by nearly 10 seconds (9.56). Ahten finished first in the field of 41 men's runners that was comprised of six collegiate teams and three unattached runners.
Brianna Newell, Women's Rookie of the Week
Newell was Navy's top freshman finisher, placing 18th overall out of 93 total runners. She finished among Navy's top 7 to help the Mids claim an 11-point victory over the second-place George Washington team. Newell finished third amongst all freshmen in the competition, being edged by a pair of GW rookies, while defeating several Patriot League freshmen.
The Midshipmen will have a short break before returning to action at the Panorama Farms Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 23. The meet is hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
