EASTON, Pa. – For the second consecutive year, Murphy Smith claimed individual medalist honors to lead Navy men's cross country to its fourth straight Patriot League Championship team title on Saturday afternoon at the Lafayette College Cross Country Course in Easton, Pa. Led by Smith's first-place finish, the Midshipmen placed nine runners in the top 14 to register a team-low score of 19 in the 8K race to win the event by 30 points.
 
With the win, Navy now has 12 league titles all-time to stand alone with the most cross country championships in Patriot League history.
 
For the second straight season, Smith was named the Runner of the Year, while freshman Patrick Gandini was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. Navy head coach Aaron Lanzel was tabbed Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
 
"The team is still getting better," Lanzel said after the meet. "How great to enjoy today knowing they are still improving? Each man is probably due a paragraph for their great individual contributions, but they approach competition as an indivisible unit, and the praise they receive from one another, face-to-face is the one they really work for. I have to mention a few superlatives though.
 
"Murphy hitting excellence week after week is a testament to his mental discipline and dedication, a perennial champion. Luke had the best day of his career (so far), and has carried the team as captain in more supportive roles until today. He finished at the front of pack today. That's something you hope your most dedicated athletes always get to experience, but in a race, you have to do that as an individual against all others so it is unconditionally earned and deserved today for Luke.
 
"Jackson, Justin, and Alexander are dominant, except they all don't like being that far back on their own team. They have a great balance of competitiveness with ultimate loyalty for the team. They will come with some more fire when the next gun goes off. That goes for Matthew, Patrick, Dane, and James also. There is excitement for each of them in what they can do ahead. All ten teams ran their best, and our pack was a golden train pulling from the front. It was a great sight."
 
Navy's top seven all finished in the top 10 to score a team-low 19 points and claim the team's fourth consecutive Patriot League championship. Army was second with a score of 49 points, while Boston University was third with 97 points. Colgate (128 points) and Lehigh (137) rounded out the top five with Bucknell (140), American (193), meet-host Lafayette (256), Holy Cross (259), and Loyola (288) finishing in order.
 
Smith took individual medalist honors with a season-best time of 23:14.5. Eight teammates joined Smith in the top 14. Senior team captain Luke Nester, junior Jackson Nguyen, junior Justin Mumford, and senior Alexander Kirkland finished in order, 3-4-5-6, while junior Matt Newell, freshman Patrick Gandini, and freshman Dane Eike crossed the finish line in order, 8-9-10. Freshman James Partlow was three spots back of Eike to finish 13th overall as the ninth Mid in the top 14.
 
Nester clocked a time of 23:31.5, while Nguyen was two seconds back with a time of 23:33.8. Mumford was one second back of the pace with a time of 23:34.8 with Kirkland coming in right behind with a time of 23:36.9. Newell crossed the finish line with a time of 23:57.5, while Gandini was the top finishing freshman with a time of 24:01.3. Fellow freshmen Eike and Partlow finished with times of 24:01.6 and 24:11.4, respectively.
 
In addition to earning Runner of the Meet honors, Smith was one of five Midshipmen to earn First Team All-Patriot League honors. Nester, Nguyen, Mumford, and Kirkland also earned first-team honors, while Newell, Gandini, Eike, and Partlow were named second-team all-conference.
 
Additionally, Nico Valdivieso (24:28.0), Logan Flament (24:42.2), and Ben Countiss (24:44.3) competed for the Midshipmen, all finishing in the top 30 of the race.
 
Up next, both Navy cross country teams will have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, hosted at Penn State on Friday, Nov. 15.