BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Murphy Smith clocked a time of 23:33.2 to finish the Men's College Gold 8K Race in fifth place among the 370 runners to lead the Navy men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the 50th Paul Short Run hosted on Lehigh University's Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.
 
"We are on the right path to a good season," head coach Aaron Lanzel said after the race. "We still have some clear improvements that are easily within reach. It just needs a little time, and that time we have before the next couple races."
 
As a team, Navy tallied 179 points to finish fourth overall among the 44 teams in the field. Wingate finished with a low score of 30, while #12 Harvard finished second overall with 95 points. Utah State was third with 109 point to finish ahead of the Midshipmen. Cornell rounded out the top five with 184 points.
 
"Murphy is a constant at the front of any race, and he's poised to have a lot of enjoyment this year," Lanzel added. "Alexander, Justin, and Jackson are working their way back to form, yet still being contenders now. It was great to see some freshman respond well today with the enormous size of the field, even more so with two getting caught up in a 30-man pile up in the first quarter mile of the race. Patrick just keeps getting better and James and Dane are able to see leaps of improvement each week.
 
"Sophomores Logan and Owen are putting themselves in contention to achieve notable achievements this year. Solid day to build on."
 
Individually, Smith was in the top 15 throughout the entire race. The senior opened the race in 15th through the first mile of the competition. At the 5K checkpoint, Smith moved up into second place, but, in a tight grouping, dropped to sixth over the next 1,300m before crossing the finish line in fifth place.
 
Alexander Kirkland was 26th overall with a time of 24:01.1, while Justin Mumford was six spots back with a time of 24:05.6 to finish third for the Midshipmen. Jackson Nguyen crossed the finish line in the top finish, coming in 43rd with a time of 24:16.5. Patrick Gandini rounded out the top five for the Mids, clocking a time of 24:36.8. Matt Newell (24:43.9) and James Partlow (24:52.5) closed out Navy's scorers.
 
Senior team captain Luke Nester was just outside of Navy's seven counters, coming in one spot behind Partlow with a time of 24:52.7. Logan Flament (24:55.8) and Dane Eike (25:05.0) also competed for the Midshipmen in the Men's College Gold 8K.
 
Navy also had a number of runners compete in the Open 8K race. Owen Ahten was the Mids' top finisher in the open competition, finishing with a time of 25:05.4. Ben Countiss (25:12.8) and Nico Valdivieso (25:13.5) finished back-to-back, while Carson Sloat (25:19.3) was three spots back. Griffin House (25:48.7), Trevor Hayes (26:03.8), Sean Miller (26:11.8), Billy Driscoll (26:14.5), Ben Tucker (26:26.3), John Maloney (26:43.0), Branum Lloyd (26:52.9), Will Johnson (26:54.8), and Luke Doetschman (28:29.0) also competed in the Open 8K.
 
Up next, Navy will host Army in the annual Star Meet, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, on Saturday, October 19 at the USNA Cross Country Course. The women's race is slated for 11:00 a.m. with the men's race to follow at 12:00 p.m. Live results will be available.