EASTON, Pa. – The Navy women's cross country team finished third at the 2024 Patriot League Championship on Saturday morning at the Lafayette College Cross Country Course in Easton, Pa. Senior Alex Wercinski led the Midshipmen with a fourth-place finish in the 6K event to earn First Team All-Conference distinction, while junior Sophie Compton and senior team captain Olivia Lutkevich finished 11th and 13th to earn second-team honors.
 
"We came into this season with the goal of winning the conference championship," head coach Kim Lewnes said after the meet. "It was feeling like a stretch sometimes during the season, but we went into today's race seeing a path to do it. Although we had some solid individual performances, we came up short on the team goal."
 
Army took first place in the 10-team event, finishing with a low score of 34, while Boston University boasted the individual winner Vera Sjoberg, and coming in second place as a team with 36 points. Navy followed with 69 points with Bucknell (87 points) and Lehigh (143) rounding out the top five. Holy Cross (220), American (223), Colgate (229), Loyola (254), and meet-host Lafayette (264) finished in order.
 
Wercinski, who was the top finisher for Navy in every meet she competed in, once again led the way for the Midshipmen. The senior clocked a season-best 6K time of 20:50.1 to finish fourth overall and earn First Team All-Patriot League honors for the first time in her four-year career.
 
"Alex was fierce," Lewnes added. "She has been hesitant all season at the start, but today she committed to the top seven right from the gun. She competed throughout and ended up fourth after finishing 29th last year. She has been putting in the work and we were so excited she put together the best cross country race of her career so far."
 
Compton and Lutkevich both clocked season-best times to finish 11th and 13th overall to earn Second Team All-Patriot League honors. Compton clocked a time of 21:10.4 to finish just outside of the top 10, while Lutkevich crossed the finish line in a time of 21:11.7 to earn all-league for the first time in her Navy career. For Compton, it was the second time in her career that she earned all-conference distinction after finishing ninth at the conference meet as a freshman.
 
"Sophie started a little too far back from the beginning, but she was able to move up and hold her ground. She missed most of her summer training due to an injury, so she still has a lot of room for improvement going into the next race and this track and field season. Similar to Alex, Olivia made a big jump this year from placing 30th in 2023 to 13th today. She has been a great leader for the team. I'm proud of her development over the past four years and all-conference finish today."
 
Lillee Tang just missed all-conference honors, finishing 16th overall (top 14 earn All-Patriot League). The sophomore clocked a time of 21:20.8 to finish third among the Midshipmen. Junior Kate Leddy rounded out the top five for the Mids, crossing the tape with a time of 21:47.4 to finish 25th overall. Senior May McConkey and junior Mia-Claire Kezal finished 27th and 30th, respectively, to close out Navy's top seven. McConkey clocked a season-best time of 21:47.6, while Kezal was just behind with a time of 21:50.7.
 
"Lillee's aggressive start helped propel us by keeping the top four in contact. She had some early season setbacks, so it was great to see her racing closer to her capabilities in the championship race. May has been consistently improving with each race this season and Kate stepped up today to keep her company. They worked well together throughout to help solidify the third-place team finish."
 
Sophomore Lexi Ensor (21:56.5), junior Samantha Woodworth (22:04.9), along with freshmen Palmisciano (22:05.5), Daisy Dastrup (22:13.0), and Jane Phillips (22:27.6) also competed for the Mids.
 
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.
 
"We are looking to improve upon today's team performance in a couple weeks at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championship. We still need to tighten up our top five pack, but we have the personnel capable of doing just that. Our men's team was a real inspiration today. They were relentless. I am grateful for Aaron and Luke's leadership within the greater Navy Track & Field / Cross Country program."