ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Led by junior Emily Boutin, the Navy women's cross country team placed seven runners in the top 10 to post a 26-33 victory over rival Army in the annual Star Meet, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA on Saturday morning at the USNA Cross Country Course.
With the win, the Midshipmen improve to 23-14 all-time in the women's cross country series. Navy has won nine of the last 12 meetings, including claiming back-to-back Stars.
In conjunction with Navy's win in the men's cross country race, the Naval Academy evened the overall 2022-23 Star Series presented by USAA at 3-3 through six events.
"Our home course is tough, but our resilient women were ready for it," head coach Kim Lewnes said after the meet. "They stayed composed from the start and were ready to compete the second half of the race. It was a true team effort. Everyone knew what they had to do and they executed the plan very well. Anyone who was a little off today, was picked up and pushed along by their teammates.
"I liked our chances going into the race, but anything can happen in this rivalry. Boots, Beth and Winter were going back and forth with Army's competitors across the finish line, but then Mia-Claire, Carolyn, Alanna, and Sophie came through to solidify the win."
Boutin finished second overall with a time of 20:55.8 in the 6K race. Her time was eight tenths of a second back of individual medalist Georgia Jones of Army. Boutin was third at the 2.75-mile split, but was able to overtake Charlotte Richman of the Black Knights, nearly passing Jones at the finish.
Seniors Elizabeth Sullivan and Winter Boese finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in their final Army-Navy cross country race. Sullivan clocked a time of 21:37.1, while team captain Boese, posted one of her top performances of the fall, crossing the finish line with a time of 21:50.3.
Navy punctuated the victory, claiming seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th places. Competing in her first Army-Navy competition, freshman Mia-Claire Kezal posted a time of 22:10.0 to finish seventh, while sophomore Carolyn Thurlby took eighth with a time of 22:14.5 to round out the Mids' top 5. Senior Alanna Julius and freshman Sophie Compton finished ninth (22:20.4) and 10th (22:21.5) to secure the victory.
"We are very proud of our team," Lewnes added. "They are fierce and we are excited to defend our Patriot League title in a couple of weeks."
