ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's and women's cross country programs are back in postseason action this Friday with the running of the 2025 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., the women will be first on the 6K Goodman Campus Cross Country Course as the Mids are one of 31 teams in the 12:00 p.m. race. One hour later at 1:00 p.m., the men will be competing among a field of 29 teams in a 10K race.
 
Both programs will be focused on securing one of the top-two qualifying positions in the national NCAA Championship meet on Saturday, November 22 in Columbia, Mo.
 
Should a team not nab one of the two automatic bids, there are also a limited number of at-large team selections and at-large individual selections that are determined following meets from across the NCAA Division I landscape. The top-four individuals from each regional not on a qualifying team are automatically are selected, while any other finisher in the top-25 is placed into the at-large national pool as a potential at-large individual.
 
Meet Participants – Women
American, Bucknell, Delaware, Delaware State, Duquesne, George Washington, #12 Georgetown, La Salle, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola, Marshall, Maryland, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Monmouth, Navy, NJIT, Penn, #10 Penn State, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rider, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Saint Francis, Seton Hall, St. Joseph's, Temple, UMBC, #19 Villanova, #7 West Virginia
 
Meet Participants – Men
American, Bucknell, Delaware State, Duquesne, George Washington, (RV) Georgetown, La Salle, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola, Marshall, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Navy, NJIT, Penn, Penn State, Pittsburgh, #18 Princeton, Rider, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Saint Francis, Seton Hall, St. Joseph's, Temple, UMBC, Villanova
 
Mid-Atlantic Women's Regional Championship (12:00 p.m.)
This will be the 25th time that the Mids have competed at the NCAA Regional Meet since 2000. The team's best finish during that span was a fifth-place finish in 2000, while placing seventh at the 2008, 2011, 2012, 2021, and 2022 events.
 
Last season, the Mids posted an eighth-place overall finish among the 30 teams that competed on the 6K Blue and White Cross Country Course at Penn State. Alex Wercinski led the Mids' effort as she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:51.4 to finish 33rd amid the 214 competitors that finished the race.
 
Last Five Mid-Atlantic Regionals
2019: 12th of 31
2021: 7th of 27
2022: 7th of 26
2023: 10th of 27
2024: 8th of 30
 
Mid-Atlantic Men's Regional Championship (1:00 p.m.)
Navy is in search of its 13th bid to the NCAA Championships as a team after finishing fourth at the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Regional.
 
Five Midshipmen finished in the top 25 as the Navy men's cross country team posted a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship at the Blue and White Cross Country Course on the campus of Penn State. Murphy Smith (8th), Justin Mumford (15th), Jackson Nguyen (18th), Alexander Kirkland (19th), and Luke Nester (21st) all finished in the top 25 among the 192 individuals who completed the 10K race.
 
The fourth-place team finish was the best for Navy under current head coach Aaron Lanzel.
 
Last Five Mid-Atlantic Regionals
2019: 8th of 25
2021: 8th of 26
2022: 7th of 26
2023: 5th of 26
2024: 4th of 27
 
Last Time at the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course (Oct. 31, 2025)
WOMEN – 3rd at the Patriot League Championship (6K)
The Navy women's cross country team finished third at the 2025 Patriot League Championship at the Goodman Cross Country Course in Bethlehem, Pa. Sophomore Jane Phillips and junior Lexi Ensor led the Midshipmen in the 6K event to earn Second Team All-Conference distinction.
 
Army took first place in the 10-team event, finishing with a low score of 21, while Bucknell came in second place as a team with 48 points. Navy followed with 99 points with Boston University (120 points) and meet-host Lehigh (136) rounding out the top five. Lafayette (193), American (199), Holy Cross (203), Colgate (232), and Loyola (293) finished in order.
 
Army's Charlotte Richman (20:19.4) was the individual winner, finishing 20 ahead of Bucknell's Shaelan McNally (20:39.8) who took second.
 
Phillips led the way for the Midshipmen. The sophomore clocked a 6K time of 21:15.2 to finish ninth overall and earn All-Patriot League honors for the first time in her young career. Ensor was three spots back in 12th place with a time of 21:20.2 to claim her all-conference honors.
 
Senior team captain Sophie Compton was third among Midshipmen, finishing 18th overall to just miss all-conference honors (top 14 earn All-Patriot League). Compton posted a time of 21:32.4 in her final Patriot League Championship.
 
Freshman Juliet Frum was 30th overall and fourth amongst the Midshipmen runners. The rookie posted a time of 21:45.1, which was the second-fastest time in the race by a freshman behind Rookie of the Meet Shealyn Brochu (21:21.5) of American. Senior Kate Leddy rounded out Navy's top five in the race, registering a time of 21:49.1 to finish 32nd overall.
 
Freshman Catalina Simon and junior Susannah Heinz finished back-to-back in 36th and 37th, respectively, to close out the Midshipmen counters. Simon crossed the finish line with a time of 21:56.3, while Heinz clocked a time of 21:58.7.
 
Sophomore Madeline Palmisciano (22:18.7), sophomore Paige Sheiffele (22:21.2), senior Samantha Woodworth (22:31.1), junior Susanna Henderson (22:33.2), and senior Mia-Claire Kezal (22:35.9) also competed for the Mids.
 
MEN – 1st at the Patriot League Championship (8K)
For the third straight year, Navy men's cross country had the individual champion as the Midshipmen claimed their fifth straight Patriot League Championship team title at the Goodman Cross Country Course in Bethlehem, Pa. Led by senior Justin Mumford's first-place finish, the Mids placed five runners in the top 10 to record a team-low score of 28 in the 8K race to win the event by 30 points.
 
Mumford won the men's race to collect Patriot League Men's Outstanding Performer of the Meet, marking the third consecutive season the Mids claimed the individual title (Murphy Smith won in 2023 and 2024). Fellow Midshipman Luke Bowlsby earned Patriot League Men's Rookie of the Meet honors as the top finishing freshman, while Navy head coach Aaron Lanzel was tabbed Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive season.
 
Navy's top seven all finished in the top 20 to score a team-low 28 points and claim the team's 13th Patriot League championship. Army was second with a score of 58 points, while American was third with 116 points. Boston University (117 points) and Bucknell (135) rounded out the top five with Colgate (148), Holy Cross (158), meet-host Lafayette (191), Lafayette (248), and Loyola (296) finishing in order.
 
Mumford took individual medalist honors with a time of 23:59.0 to lead a team of Midshipmen in the top 10. Sophomore Dane Eike was fourth overall with a time of 24:25.4, while fellow sophomore James Partlow was sixth with a finish of 24:31.9. Juniors Max Girardet and Logan Flament finished back-to-back in eighth and ninth, crossing the finish line with times of 24:35.1 and 24:38.4, respectively, to close out Navy's top five.
 
For their efforts, Mumford, Eike, and Partlow were named First Team All-Patriot League, while Girardet and Flament earned second-team honors.
 
Sophomore Patrick Gandini, who was the 2024 Rookie of the Meet, just missed all-conference distinction, finishing 15th overall (top 14 earn All-Patriot League) with a time of 24:52.3, while senior Matt Newell closed out the Navy counters in 18th with a time of 25:03.8.
 
Senior team captain Jackson Nguyen notched a top-20 finish, claiming 19th with a time of 25:08.0. Junior Owen Ahten was two spots back in 21st, crossing the line in 25:10.6. Bowlsby was the top freshman in the race, finishing 23rd overall with a time of 25:16.0. Additionally, sophomore Trevor Hayes (25:26.8) and junior Zack Poekert (25:47.3) competed in the event, finishing in 26th and 35th, correspondingly.