ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Junior Justin Mumford finished second overall to lead a pack of five Midshipmen that finished in the top eight as Navy men's cross country cruised to a win in the men's college 4.9-mile race at the Cantello Invitational on Saturday morning at the USNA Cross Country course in Annapolis, Md.
 
Navy posted a team score of 28 to win the meet, finishing 25 points ahead of George Washington who closed the day with a team score of 53 to take second. Davis & Elkins and George Mason tallied totals of 72 and 79 to finish third and fourth, respectively. UMBC was fifth with a score of 150, while McDaniel (186 points), Frostburg State (198), and Stevenson (227) rounded out the team scoring.
 
"There was a nice atmosphere with a good number of teams in town to challenge our home course," head coach Aaron Lanzel said. "The varsity race was enjoyable to see unfold. Justin is gritty and wanted to push it fairly early today to see what he could do. He strung the field out quickly in the middle, and once he gets back to full form it will be great racing for him. Nico is still looking for every opportunity and he made it a good one for himself today; he was competitive throughout. Our pack of Carson, Patrick, Matthew, and Dane all ran wisely. They made up a lot of ground on the field the last couple miles to provide a solid team victory. I'm pleased where the team is in the physical and the focus."
 
Mumford clocked a time of 24:35.85 to finish second overall. He was joined in the top eight by four teammates – senior Nico Valdivieso, senior Carson Sloat, freshman Patrick Gandini, and junior Matthew Newell. Valdivieso posted a time of 24:52.7 to take fifth place, while Sloat was one spot back in sixth with a time of 24:58.7. Gandini was seventh overall with a time of 25:00.5 with Newell taking eighth with time of 25:02.2.
 
Freshman Dane Eike finished just outside of the top 10 with an 11th-place performance after a time of 25:10.1. Sophomore Owen Ahten rounded out Navy's top seven with a time of 25:14.9 to take 14th overall.
 
Sophomore Logan Flament (25:18.24), senior Sean Miller (25:37.8), senior Ben Countiss (25:48.4), and junior Griffin House (26:33.6) also competed in the men's college 4.9-mile race.
 
In the Open 5K, Navy placed seven runners in the top 10 with 14 total runners in the top 20 and all 22 student-athletes in the top 30 of the event.
 
Freshman James Partlow was the Mids' top finisher in the 5K race, taking third overall in the race with a time of 16:20.7. Sophomore Aidan Eberhardt (16:30.0), senior Jack Lange (16:36.8), freshman Trevor Hayes (16:41.1), freshman Billy Driscoll (16:47.1), freshman Jonathan Skemp (16:47.3), and sophomore Caden Ryskoski (16:48.61) also finished in the top 10, while freshman Ben Tucker (16:58.0),sophomore Tate Frost (16:59.1), freshman Luke Doetschman (17:03.0), freshman John Maloney (17:03.9), freshman Will Johnson (17:06.6), freshman Aidan Kearns (17:18.4), and junior Matthew Dunaski (17:21.2) each finished in the top 20.
 
Freshman Matthew Quispe (17:26.9), junior Cooper Branch (17:27.5), freshman Branum Lloyd (17:35.2), junior Colter Kirkland (17:44.8), freshman James McCarron (17:51.1), freshman Leo Cole (18:04.1), sophomore Chris Seegobin (18:27.7), and freshman Mason Wokoma (18:45.5) all finished between 21 and 30.
 
"Our 5K race always holds a few surprises for the future," Lanzel added. "Given proper time to put all the pieces together, we will see some really great things from guys like James Partlow who ran a smart race today for where he is at right in training. Aidan also put in another solid performance as he develops more capability and range for the future."
 
Up next, Navy will head to University Park, Pa. for the annual Spiked Shoe Invitational hosted by Penn State. Competition is slated to begin at the Spiked Shoe with the women's collegiate 6K race at 10:00 a.m. with the men's college 5.2-mile run to follow at 10:45 a.m. Live results will be available via PTtiming.