BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Patriot League announced its weekly cross country awards and a pair of Navy student-athletes were recognized by the conference. Senior Murphy Smith was tabbed Runner of the Week, while freshman Patrick Gandini was selected as the Rookie of the Week for their performance at the Army-Navy Star Meet, which is part of the overall Star Series presented by USAA. Additionally, Smith was recognized as the Naval Academy Athletic Association Athlete of the Week presented by Northrop Grumman.


 
The duo helped the Midshipmen to a dominant 18-45 victory over the Black Knights as Navy placed nine runners in the top 10 to claim the Star.
 
During the race, Smith set the USNA Cross Country Course record with a time of 23:25.8 to finish first overall in the 4.9-mile competition. Smith's time topped the previous record of 23:30.0, which was set by Louisville's Wesley Korir in 2007 and bested the previous top performance by a Navy runner of 23:39.4 by Lucas Stalnaker in 2016. The win marked the second consecutive season that Smith claimed individual medalist honors in the Star Meet.
 
Gandini was the top performing freshman at the Army-Navy Star Meet. The freshman finished sixth overall and fifth among the Navy runners. Gandini clocked a time of 23:58.2, which bested his previous time of 25:00.5, on the USNA Cross Country 4.9-mile course.
 
Saturday's competition marked the conclusion of Navy's regular season as both the men's and women's teams will turn their attention to action at the 2024 Patriot League Championship on Saturday, November 2.