SALISBURY, Md. – The Navy men's cross country team tallied 86 points as a team to finish third at the Salisbury Fall Classic at Winter Place Park in Salisbury, Md. The Midshipmen's top five performers all tallied top 25 performances in the 8K race, led by sophomore
Aidan Eberhardt wo finished in 12th.
"A good slap to get the season started," head coach
Aaron Lanzel said after the meet. "We had runners who needed an early start to make some progress and see where they are. Our four sophomores and nine freshmen faced the full force of a several well-prepared teams and runners. There weren't any surprises for our crew in the positive or negative. While we always will be left wanting without victories, it is good to measure up to a solid competition rather than be lulled into false security."
Johns Hopkins swept the top five spots to post a team-low score of 15 to win the meet, while Seton Hall was second with 67 points. Navy followed with 86 ahead of meet host Salisbury, who finished with a team score of 98. Messiah was fifth with 117 points, while Howard Community College closed out the team scoring with 190 points.
Eberhardt led the Midshipmen with a time of 25:58.9 to finish 12th, while fellow sophomore
Caden Ryskoski crossed the finish line with a time of 26:09.2 to take 14th. Freshman
Billy Driscoll clocked a time of 26:21.3 in his first collegiate meet to claim 19th-place points. One spot back of Driscoll was fellow freshman
Jonathan Skemp who notched a time of 26:22.0 in the 8K race. Sophomore
Tate Frost posted a time of 26:33.9 for 21st to close out the scoring for the Midshipmen.
Freshman
Ben Tucker and sophomore
Chris Seegobin rounded out Navy's top seven runners. Tucker notched a time of 26:35.6, while Seegobin finished in 26:37.7.
Freshmen
Trevor Hayes (26:50.2),
Will Johnson (26:56.2),
Branum Lloyd (27:03.5),
John Maloney (27:13.8),
Luke Doetschman (27:27.3), and
James McCarron (27:40.7) also took part in the first meet of the season.
The Midshipmen will host the Cantello Invitational at the USNA Cross Country Course on Saturday, Sept. 7. The meet opens with an open 5K at 9:00 a.m. before the women's 6K at 9:45 a.m. and the men's 4.9-mile run at 10:30 a.m. There will be a Bertha mile run at 11:00 a.m.
