Aaron Lanzel begins his eighth season as head coach of the Navy men’s cross country team in 2024. A 2003 USNA graduate and decorated Midshipmen student-athlete, Lanzel was announced as the head coach in August of 2018. He is no stranger to the program as he competed for the Midshipmen cross country and track and field teams during his time as an undergrad (1999-03) before joining the United States Navy in the aviation community.
Under Lanzel, the Navy men’s cross country team has won four Patriot League Championships (2021, ’22, ’23, ’24) with three runners combining for four individual conference titles – Kevin Murray (2018), Jake Brophy (2019), and Murphy Smith (2023, ’24). In addition, Lanzel has coached two student-athletes – Murphy Smith (2021) and Patrick Gandini (2024) – to Patriot League Rookie of the Meet distinction, while claiming four PL Coach of the Year awards (2021, ’22, ’23, ’24). Lanzel has directed 21 student-athletes to 28 All-Patriot League honors, including 21 first-team accolades.
Additionally, Lanzel has led Navy to a 6-1 (.857) record against Army in Star Matches, including six consecutive victories (2019, ’20, ’21, ’22, ’23, ’24).
In his first season at the helm of the Midshipmen in 2018, Lanzel led an extremely young squad that had just one regularly-scoring senior runner and two more juniors who pointed in every varsity race. Highlights from the 2018 season included, Kevin Murray winning the Patriot League Championship and Jake Brophy earning the Navy Invitational crown earlier in the campaign. As a team, Navy placed fourth at the Patriot League Championship and eighth at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship.
The program took the next step in 2019 as Lanzel guided the team to the Navy Invitational title, Army-Navy Star Meet win and a second-place result at the Patriot League Championship. Navy finished within three points of claiming the league title, 37-40. Individually, Jake Brophy was dominant every time he started for Lanzel and the Mids as he placed first or second in four regular season races before winning the Patriot League Championship and coming in second at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Brophy qualified to race at the 2019 NCAA Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana.
As the distance coach for the track and field program, Lanzel helped Brophy become the first Midshipmen to break the 4:00-mile mark in January of 2020. In recognition of his work with the distance runners, Lanzel was honored as the 2020 USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
Lanzel’s third season as head coach was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as the Mids’ competitive slate was condensed to just two head-to-head meets, one against Pitt and the second against Army. In Navy’s 2020 season opener, the Mids turned in a strong effort to defeat the Pitt Panthers by a score of 23-37. Led by Julian Perez’ first place result, Navy runners captured six of the top-eight finishes. In the 2020 Star Meet, Navy was victorious once again over Army on the strength of Perez’ victory and a sweep of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh positions to earn a 23-34 win.
In 2021, Lanzel directed the Navy cross country team to a historic season.
On the strength of six runners in the top-seven, Navy won the 2021 Patriot League Championship, marking the first title since 2016. The team’s 20-point total was the second-lowest in the history of the Patriot League Championship. Miguel Mathias and Brett Brady placed second and third overall to lead the team’s result. Sam Keeny and Garrison Clark came in fourth and fifth ahead of team captain Ashwin Briggs, who rounded out the team’s scoring in sixth place. John Bowers made it six Mids in the top-seven with his individual result. Mathias, Brady, Keeny, Clark, Briggs, and Bowers were recognized with All-Patriot League First Team honors. Additionally, David Nelsen was named All-Patriot League Second Team, while freshman Murphy Smith was honored as the Rookie of the Meet. Lanzel was named the 2021 Patriot League Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Navy defeated Army in the 2021 Star Meet in October. Racing at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, the trio of Brady, Clark, and Keeny dominated the field as they swept the top-three positions, with Brady finishing ahead of Army’s first runner by over 14 seconds. Nelsen and Briggs were the final scorers for Navy as the pair crossed in fifth and sixth place to give the Mids a 17-46 victory. Mitchell Rome and Mathias made it seven Mids in the top-eight versus the Black Knights.
The team finished in eighth-place at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional at Lehigh University. Mathias and Clark spearheaded Navy’s effort as the duo placed back-to-back in 35th and 36th place.
In the class room, Brady, Briggs, and Bowers were named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team. Navy was the only program with multiple student-athletes on the seven-man team. Brady earned top honors on the team as he was selected as the Patriot League Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Additionally, the team was recognized with the USTFCCCA All-Academic team award.
Brady, Briggs, and Casey earned Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Casey garnered first-team recognition with Briggs claiming second-team distinction. Brady received third-team laurels as part of the organization’s track and field / cross country category. The three men’s CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees are the most in program history in a single year. Additionally, Casey joined pole vaulter Stefano Pineda (‘19) as Navy’s only two-time First Team All-American for track and field / cross country.
The 2022 season once again saw the Midshipmen excelling under Lanzel. Navy won its second consecutive Patriot League Cross Country Championship in 2022. The Midshipmen had four runners in the finish in the top six to lead the way to the victory. Navy tallied 32 total points on the day to finish ahead of rival Army, who came in second with 50 points. Individually, Sam Keeny (second place), Alex Rizzo (third), Brett Brady (fourth), and Garrison Clark (sixth) were named First Team All-Patriot League, while Lanzel was tabbed the Patriot League Men's Coach of the Year.
Led by top two finishes Clark and Brady, Navy notched a 22-35 win over Army in the annual Star Meet at the USNA Cross Country Course. Clark claimed individual medalist honors in the 4.9-mile race, while Brady crossed the finish line in second in America's Meet. It was the fourth consecutive victory for Navy in the series.
The Midshipmen wrapped up the 2022 season with a solid effort at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship at Penn State University. Competing on a 10k circuit at the Penn State Cross Country Course, the Mids had a stout five-man pack to the finish line that was separated from first to fifth by 35.9 seconds. After the entire 26 teams and 180 runners had crossed the finish line, Navy placed five runners in the top-51 and compiled 212 team points to rank seventh overall. Clark led the Mids' individual effort as he placed in 30th position.
Academically, Brady closed out his Navy career by earning Second Team Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC), formerly CoSIDA. Additionally, Brady was named the Patriot League Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Brady and Keeny were both name to the conference All-Academic team. As a team, Navy was recognized with the 2022 USTFCCCA All-Academic team award.
The 2023 season was highlighted by a dominant victory over Army, a Patriot League Championship, and postseason success.
Navy claimed the top four spots and placed seven runners in the top 10 to cruise to a 17-43 victory over Army at the West Point Golf Course in the annual Star Meet. Murphy Smith was the individual winner in the 8K race with Alexander Kirkland, Sam Keeny, and Luke Nester finishing in order second through fourth for the Midshipmen. The score tied for the lowest for the Mids against Army under Lanzel (W, 17-46 in 2021). The 17 points were the second-lowest team score of the season for the Midshipmen, just two points back of the 15 points scored during the Navy Invitational.
Behind a 1-2-3 finish from Smith, Keeny, and Kirkland, the Midshipmen won its third consecutive Patriot League Cross Country Championship in 2023. Navy tallied 37 total points to finish ahead of Army, who came in second with 50 points. Smith was the individual medalist, earning Patriot League Runner of the Meet honors with his first-place finish. Keeny was second overall, while Kirkland was third. The trio were all named First Team All-Patriot League. In addition, Lanzel was named the Patriot League Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year.
Smith continued his tremendous junior season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship to qualify for the NCAA Championship. Hosted by Lehigh and run over the 10K Goodman Campus Cross Country Course, Navy finished fifth collectively among the 26 teams that competed. Smith's third-place finish was the highest by a Navy individual since Jake Brophy ('20) finished second at the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional as a senior. For their performances at the Regional, Smith and Kirkland were named USTFCCCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region. Smith crossed the finish line in third place, while Kirkland came in 15th place overall among the 183 student-athletes who completed the race.
Smith finished 105th among the 236 runners who finished the 10K race in the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championship in Charlottesville, Va. The junior clocked a time of 30:35.8 in the final race of the season.
In the classroom, Keeny and Joe Reimann were named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team. Keeny earned top honors on the team as he was selected as the 2023 Patriot League Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, giving Navy men’s cross country three consecutive Scholar-Athletes of the Year (Brett Brady – ’21, ’22; Sam Keeny – ’23). As a team, Navy was recognized with the USTFCCCA All-Academic team award.
The 2024 season was once again a year to remember for the Midshipmen under Lanzel.
Led by Murphy Smith, who set the USNA Cross Country Course record with a time of 23:25.8, Navy posted a dominant 18-45 victory over Army in the annual Star Meet. The Midshipmen placed nine runners in the top 10 to run away with the 4.9-mile event. Smith's time of 23:25.8 topped the previous record of 23:30.0, which was set by Louisville's Wesley Korir in 2007 and bested the previous top performance by a Navy runner of 23:39.4 by Lucas Stalnaker in 2016. Justin Mumford was in second place (23:37.2), which moved him into second-place all-time among Navy runners at the USNA Cross Country Course behind Smith. Alexander Kirkland, Jackson Nguyen, Patrick Gandini, Dane Eike, team captain Luke Nester, James Partlow, and Matt Newell shut the door on the Black Knights, finishing fourth through 10th.
At the Patriot League Championship, Smith claimed individual medalist honors for the second consecutive year to lead Navy to its fourth straight Patriot League Championship team title at the Lafayette College Cross Country Course. Led by Smith's first-place finish, the Mids placed nine runners in the top 14 to register a team-low score of 19 in the 8K race to win the event by 30 points. With the win, Navy the most cross country championships in Patriot League history with 12.
Smith, Nester, Nguyen, Mumford, and Kirkland earned First Team All-Patriot League honors, while Newell, Gandini, Eike, and Partlow were named second-team all-conference. Smith was named the Runner of the Year, while Gandini was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. Lanzel was tabbed Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
Five Midshipmen finished in the top 25 as the Navy posted a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship on the campus of Penn State. Smith (8th), Mumford (15th), Nguyen (18th), Kirkland (19th), and 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 Lanzel. Kirkland, Mumford, Nester, Nguyen, and Smith were named USTFCCCA All-Region for their performances at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship by virtue of a top-25 finish.
In the classroom, the USTFCCCA announced its postseason academic awards for the 2024 cross country season and the Navy men's program was acknowledged for its prowess in the classroom. Mumford, Nester, and Smith were recognized as an All-Academic Athletes for their success in competition at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship and academically at the Naval Academy. The men’s cross country team was recognized with the USTFCCCA All-Academic team award. Additionally, Kirkland, Mumford, and Nester were selected to the seven-member Academic All-Patriot League men’s squad.
Lanzel was an accomplished student-athlete for the Midshipmen beginning with his freshman season of action in the Fall of 1999 with the cross country team. A distance specialist, he’d ply his craft with both the cross country and track and field programs in Annapolis all four years. The captain of the 2002 cross country team and 2003 outdoor track and field team, Lanzel competed 11 times versus Army in Star Meets and came away with a 9-2 record. His name still appears in the Navy track and field record books as a member of the fastest indoor distance medley relay team in history (9:39.17 – 3/3/2002), as well as holding a top-10 time in the outdoor 1,500 meters (3:44.25 – 4/11/2003). He concluded his intercollegiate career at Navy by collecting the Class of 2003 Naval Academy Athletic Association Sword. The sword is given to the individual who contributed the most to athletics during their four years at the Naval Academy.
After graduation, Lanzel was commissioned as a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Serving from 2004 through 2010, he completed flight training and was a pilot and Mission Commander of the P-3C Orion aircraft. He was deployed to both the Pacific and Middle East with the majority of his time spent in Iraq, where he completed 99 combat missions.
In addition to his service with the United States Navy, Lanzel, a sub-4:00 miler, was able to make time to compete in national track and field events. At the 2004 USATF Indoor National Championships, he finished fifth overall at 1500 meters, though his crowning achievement in national competition was earning his way into the semifinals of the 2004 Olympic Trials for the United States in the same event. He is one of just 11 USNA graduates to have competed in either the Olympics or Olympic Trials for the United States.
Lanzel’s additional international experiences, include competing on the U.S. Military World team in cross country in 2006 (in Tunisia), 2008 (Switzerland), 2010 (Belgium) and in track in 2003 (Italy) and 2011 (Brazil).
Following his active duty with the U.S. Navy, he came back to the Academy as an assistant under Al Cantello from June 2010 through December 2013. During that span on staff, the Mids finished in first place in the Patriot League in 2010, 2011 and 2013 with a second-place result in 2012, the only blemish on the perfect run of titles. Four Midshipmen earned All-Patriot League First Team honors with another 14 garnering spots on the second team from 2010 to 2013. With Lanzel’s assistance, Cantello was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
From 2013 to 2015, Lanzel turned his attention to engineering and consulting with the Medtronic organization. While employed at Medtronic, Lanzel developed algorithms, hardware, software and training programs for physiological monitoring systems that utilized heart rate, HRV, anaerobic threshold, breathing rate, VO2max, speed, and accelerometry. He completed two U.S. Provision Patent Applications. As a consultant, he trained and advised coaches associated with the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and NCAA, as well as special force groups in the military.
Lanzel became the fifth head coach in the storied history of the Navy men’s cross country program following Louis Mang (1922-26), Earl Thompson (1927-51), Jim Gehrdes (1952-67) and Al Cantello (1968-18).
A 2003 USNA graduate with a degree in electrical engineering, Lanzel lives in Annapolis with his wife Ashley and children, Aletheia, Arden, and Anna Rose.
