Kim Lewnes begins her seventh season as head coach of the Navy women’s cross country team in 2025. Lewnes was announced as the head coach in June of 2019, becoming the fourth head coach in the history of the Navy women’s cross country program.
Under Lewnes, the Navy women’s cross country team has won two Patriot League Championships (2021, ’22) with Emily Boutin (’24) claiming the individual conference title in 2022, while claiming two PL Coach of the Year awards (2021, ’22). Lewnes has directed 12 student-athletes to 18 All-Patriot League honors, including six first-team accolades.
Additionally, Lewnes has led Navy to a pair of victories against Army in Star Matches (2021, ’22).
In her first season at the helm of the program in 2019, Lewnes helped the Midshipmen finish top-three in a trio of early-season competitions and a fourth-place result at the Patriot League Championship. Navy came up three points shy of coming in third at the league meet, 87-90. A pair of All-Patriot League individual performances led Navy's cause as Emily Craig placed fourth, while Elizabeth Sullivan crossed the finish line in 14th place.
Lewnes' second 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 versus the Pitt Panthers, the team hit on all cylinders and cruised to a perfect 15-50 victory as the first eight runners to cross the finish line of the 6k race were all Mids. In the 2020 Star Meet, Navy had six of the top-10 finishers, including race champion Emily Craig, but were edged in team points by the Black Knights, 27-29.
In her third season at the helm, the women’s cross country team had a historic 2021 season. Navy placed its five scoring runners in the top-12 and within 14.7 seconds of each other to capture the 2021 Patriot League Championship – the fifth in program history and the first since 2012. The team finished with 47 points to edge Boston University, who came in second with 52 points. Elizabeth Sullivan and Ellie Abraham led the way as they finished back-to-back in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Sullivan’s result garnered her an All-Patriot League First Team nod, while Abraham, Winter Boese, Maddie Warrender, Emily Boutin and team captain Jessica Nangle all garnered All-Patriot League Second Team honors. Those six All-Patriot League accolades were the second-most in program history at a single league championship, trailing just the 2008 team that had seven honorees. Lewnes was named the 2021 Patriot League Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Racing at Lehigh University, the Mids turned in the program’s best finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship since 2012 with a seventh-place result in the team standings as all five of their counting runners placed amongst the top-53 individuals in a field of 193. Sullivan led the Mids’ effort as she crossed the finish line in 25th place, good enough to earn All-Regional honors. Abraham and Nangle also placed amongst the top-50 runners as they finished in 41st and 49th place, respectively.
For the first time under Lewnes, Navy defeated Army by a score of 20-35 in the 2021 Star Meet. Racing at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, the Mids led by Abraham’s second-place result crossed the finish line consecutively in spots two through six and were separated by just 31.8 seconds. Abraham was the day’s standout with a second-place time of 19:34.9 before Sullivan, Boese, Boutin and Nangle all clocked in between 19:59.3 and 20:06.7. Army’s second finisher was nearly 15 seconds back of Nangle.
Navy’s final point total of 20 equaled the 2012 and 2016 Midshipmen squads for the lowest winning score in a Star Meet. Following a one-point loss in 2019 and a two-point defeat in 2020, it was Navy’s first win against Army since 2018.
In the classroom, Sullivan and Warrender were named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team. Navy and Boston University were the only two programs with two student-athletes on the seven-member team.
In addition, Sullivan was honored as a USTFCCCA All-Academic individual award winner for finishing top-25 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and posting a 3.93 GPA in her studies at the Naval Academy. The team was recognized with the USTFCCCA All-Academic team award.
The Navy Track & Field / Cross Country program had four student-athletes earn College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America honors, including Warrender, who received third-team laurels in her final season after earning CoSIDA Academic All-District three times (2020, ‘21, ‘22) during her career.
The 2022 season saw continued success under Lewnes in her fourth season.
Navy placed nine runners in the top 20, including individual medalist Emily Boutin, to post a team score of 38 to win to its second consecutive Patriot League Championship title. The Midshipmen's top five all finished in the top 11. For her efforts, Boutin was named the Patriot League Runner of the Year, while Lewnes was tabbed the Patriot League Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Ellie Abraham joined Boutin with first-team all-conference distinction, while Sophie Compton, Elizabeth Sullivan, and Mia-Claire Kezal each earned second-team honors. The win in the Patriot League Championship marked Navy's second consecutive championship.
In the annual Army-Navy Meet, the Midshipmen placed seven runners in the top 10 to post a 26-33 victory over the Black Knights at the USNA Cross Country Course, giving Navy back-to-back Star wins.
Powered by an 11th-place finish by Boutin, the Navy women's cross country team registered a seventh-place team finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional at the Penn State Cross Country Course, tying for the best finish for the Midshipmen over a span of 15 years (2008, '11, '12, '21). For her efforts, Boutin was recognized as All-Region.
Academically in 2022, Boutin was honored as a USTFCCCA All-Academic individual award winner, while the team was recognized with the USTFCCCA All-Academic team award. Additionally, Boutin was named to the seven-member Academic All-Patriot League Team.
In her fifth season at the helm, Navy finished third overall at the 2023 Patriot League Cross Country Championship which was hosted by Colgate at the Harry H. Lang Cross Country Course. Ellie Abraham was the top individual for the Midshipmen, crossing the finish line in fifth place in the 6K race.
With her fifth-place finish, Abraham earned First Team All-Patriot League honors. It was the third time in the senior's career that she earned all-conference honors and her second time notching first-team distinction. Additionally, Caroline Harding finished just out of the top 10, coming in 11th to earn the senior Second Team All-Patriot League recognition for the first time in her four-year career.
Team captain Emily Boutin posted a first-place finish individually, but Navy dropped a 26-30 decision to Army at the West Point Golf Course in the annual Star Meet. Boutin led start to finish, closing out the 6K race with a time of 20:03.8 to win by 35.3 seconds.
Navy concluded the 2023 season with a solid performance at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Racing on the 6K Goodman Campus Cross Country Course at Lehigh, the Mids posted a 10th-place overall finish among the 27 teams that competed. Abraham led the Mids' effort as she crossed the finish line with a time of 21:12.7, which was her second-best 6K time of the season.
In the classroom, four cross country runners – Abraham, Boutin, McKenna Brophy, and Harding – were among Navy’s five women’s cross country / track & field student-athletes named to the CSC Academic All-District team during the 2023-24 school year. From that foursome, Abraham and Brophy earned CSC Academic All-America honors with the duo both earning second-team nods.
Additionally, Abraham was selected to the eight-member Academic All-Patriot League women's squad, while the women’s cross country team was recognized with the USTFCCCA All-Academic team award.
Brophy was the 2023-24 recipient of the Coaches’ Calvert Award which is presented by the Naval Academy Athletic Association in honor of Vice Admiral James Calvert, Superintendent of the Naval Academy (1968-72), to recognize a graduating varsity letterwinner (men and women) who displayed leadership, consistent effort, loyalty and dedication to the sport and who has taken their abilities beyond the expectations of the coach, peers and themselves.
Navy finished third at the 2024 Patriot League Championship at the Lafayette College Cross Country Course. Alex Wercinski led the Midshipmen with a fourth-place finish in the 6K event to earn First Team All-Conference distinction, while Sophie Compton and team captain Olivia Lutkevich finished 11th and 13th to earn second-team honors.
The Midshipmen concluded its 2024 season with a stellar performance at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Racing on the 6K Blue and White Cross Country Course at Penn State, the Mids posted an eighth-place overall finish among the 30 teams competing. 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. Navy's top-10 finish was the best among all Patriot League teams that participated in the race – Bucknell (11th), Lehigh (14th), Lafayette (25th), American (27th), and Loyola (28th).
Navy dropped a 20-35 decision to rival Army at the USNA Cross Country Course in the annual Star Meet. Wercinski led a group of five Midshipmen that finished in the top 10 in the 6K race with her fifth-place performance.
Academically, Wercinski was selected to the seven-member Academic All-Patriot League women's squad, while the women’s cross country team was recognized with the USTFCCCA All-Academic team award.
Announced in June of 2019, Lewnes became the fourth head coach in the storied history of the Navy women’s cross country program following Karen Boyle (1987-19), Barbara Lawson (1984-86), and Major Rocky Rosacker, USMC (1983). No stranger to the Naval Academy and the Midshipmen, Lewnes was on staff as a volunteer assistant under Boyle.
Lewnes' initial experience with the Midshipmen came during the 2017 fall season when she came aboard as Boyle’s assistant coach. During her two years, Navy earned back-to-back third place results at the Patriot League Championship and saw a trio of runners garner All-Patriot League honors: Grace West (2018-first team, 2017-second), Ali Valenti (2017-first) and Emily Craig (2017-second). As part of the Mids’ 2018 regular season slate, the team turned in a dominant victory over Army in the teams’ annual Star Meet. Racing at the USNA Cross Country Course, Navy saw three of its runners finish in the top-four, including West winning the race with the seventh-fastest time in program history.
Prior to joining the Naval Academy, Lewnes spent five years as an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins University. From 2012 through 2016, Lewnes helped guide the women's cross country team to four NCAA Championships and five Mideast Regional Championships. The men's cross country team also reached new heights during her tenure winning two NCAA Mideast Regional Championships. In her five years at Hopkins, Lewnes coached cross country runners to 17 All-America honors and 33 student-athletes earned All-America honors on the track. She was named the Mideast Assistant Coach of the Year during the 2014 and 2015 indoor seasons.
Before joining JHU, Lewnes spent the 2011-12 school year as a volunteer coach at Cornell University, where the women won both the cross country and outdoor track & field Heptagonal Conference Championships.
As a collegiate athlete, Lewnes (nee Standridge) was the track & field team captain and earned numerous accolades for the Big Red in middle distance events. An ECAC champion in the distance medley relay, previous school record holder in the 1000 and third all-time in school history in the 800. Additionally, she garnered All-America honors with a ninth-place finish at the 2010 Outdoor NCAA Division I Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
A 2011 graduate of Cornell University, Lewnes earned a degree in Communication. She went on to earn a Master of Science in Counseling from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education in 2017. Lewnes lives in Annapolis with her husband Mack, who was an All-American wrestler for Cornell. The couple are the proud parents of a daughter, Liliana, and a son, Ridge.
