WEST POINT, N.Y. – Senior Justin Mumford led for a majority of America's Meet, earning individual medalist honors and leading Navy men's cross country (1-0) to a 26-29 victory over Army (0-1) in the annual Star Meet, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA on Saturday morning at the West Point Golf Course in West Point, N.Y. At the 3K mark of the 8K race, Mumford took the lead position and never looked back as the senior won by nearly 20 seconds (17.2).
 
Navy was in the lead through the 3K, holding a 22-33 advantage. Army took a 27-28 lead midway through the race. Through 5500m, the Black Knights increased their advantage to 24-31. The hosts increased their lead to nine, 23-32, at the 6400m checkpoint, but Navy closed the gap to one, 27-28, with 700m remaining. The Midshipmen were able to retake the lead as a team in the final 700m to claim the 26-29 win.
 
"The men found a way for a gritty win today," head coach Aaron Lanzel said after his team won its seventh consecutive Star. "It wasn't pretty. It was fighting out of a hole we dug into by midrace. We started this week with a few of our tried, true, top four questionable to race, and that meant it would likely fall to a bigger team effort to put together a winning score. It's extraordinary to overcome that deficit with less than a mile to finish – both in points and time gaps. A testament to the tough perseverance these guys are ready to tap into. It was not a good showing, not pretty, but we didn't come for that, we came for a win."
 
Mumford finished the race in first place with a time of 23:18.5. The senior was in fourth place through the first 1500m, but just 0.3 second back of first. Mumford made his move into the lead prior to the 3K checkpoint, moving into first by seven seconds. He pushed the lead to 14 seconds through 3950m and 20 seconds through the 5500m checkpoint. Mumford continued to lead through the final 3500m ultimately winning by 17.2 seconds.
 
"Justin was in a different world early on and made an individual victory a certainty," commented Lanzel. "After Justin, the home course advantage with the home crowd advantage gave our opponents major momentum in the later stages of the race."
 
Patrick Gandini took second place with a time of 23:35.7. The sophomore was in sixth place at the 6400m checkpoint, but moved into second place with 700m remaining to help trim the margin.
 
Led by junior Adam Furman (23:38.7), Army claimed the next three spots, but sophomore James Partlow, who was third among the Midshipmen runners, finished sixth overall with a time of 23:41.1, moving from seventh to sixth in the final 700m to shave vital points off of Navy's total.
 
The Black Knights claimed seventh place, but sophomore Logan Flament went from 10th to eighth over the final 700m of the race, finishing with a time of 23:46.2. Senior team captain Jackson Nguyen claimed ninth, crossing the finish line with a time of 23:47.9 to round out Navy's top five and secure the victory.
 
"Patrick made the commitment above all to rip victory from the jaws of defeat," added Lanzel. "The course made it easy for the runners to see the disparity of points we were down with a mile to go. It was a true test of the competitor to either thrive or perish. Patrick flipped the whole race upside down within a half mile to the finish. James made a big explosion to recoup some points in the last quarter, and Logan and Jackson won their final battle to secure the victory."
 
The Midshipmen claimed 11th through 15th with junior Max Girardet (24:03.6), junior Owen Ahten (24:06.7), sophomore Dane Eike (24:12.0), senior Matt Newell (24:19.7), and sophomore Trevor Hayes (24:24.2) finishing in order. Freshman Luke Bowlsby (24:42.8) and sophomore Billy Driscoll (24:56.0) closing out the Navy competitors in 17th and 18th.
 
Saturday's competition marked the conclusion of Navy's regular season as Navy will turn its attention to action at the 2025 Patriot League Championship on Friday, October 31.