BOWDOIN PARK INFORMATION
The Army-Navy men's cross country rivalry will be taking place for the 80th time on Saturday at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., with the race beginning at 11 a.m.
Both Army and Navy raced at Lehigh's Paul Short Run on Sept. 29th with the Midshipmen placing fifth and the Black Knights close behind in seventh.
The Mids have won the last three Star meets and seven of the last eight to push Navy ahead 49-29-1 all-time in series. Under the leadership of head coach Al Cantello the Mids are 37-10-1. In addition to his 37 wins with the cross country program, Cantello accrued 12 as the head coach of the Navy indoor and outdoor track & field teams between 1981 and 1988. A win on Saturday would make him the first coach in Navy history to accumulate 50 Star victories.
Through five meets in 2017, Navy has earned three team victories, in addition to a sixth-place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational and a fifth at the Paul Short Run. In Bethlehem, Pa., two weeks ago at the Paul Short, Navy raced alongside Army and outpointed the Black Knights, 193-284. Navy finished with four runners in the top-35, while the Black Knights responded with just one top-35 result.
The Black Knights' last win against Navy came in 2013 as they edged the Mids, 26-29 at home. Army's best times came at last week's Paul Short Run, with the top five finishing between 24:05-24:50. Senior John Valeri posted an Army record at the Paul Short Run, coming in at 24:05, the fastest a Black Knight has run that course. Sophomores Robbie Santoyo, Roman Ollar and Ben Petrella have made a strong impact on the team as well, placing in Army's top five in the same two meets. Freshman Daniel Mazzei has had an impressive showing in the start of his collegiate career, rounding out Army's top five in both the Maine Dual and Paul Short Run.
In this week's USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll, the Mids are ranked third. Navy trails just Georgetown and Penn in the ranking. On the opposite side of this Saturday's matchup, Army ranks fifth in the Northeast Regional Poll.