ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Using a strong group finish, the Navy men's cross country team decisively defeated rival Army (0-1), securing a 19-42 victory in the 4.9-mile race in the annual Star Meet, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA on Saturday afternoon at the USNA Cross Country Course in Annapolis. The victory was the eighth consecutive win for the Navy men's cross country team in the series.
The Midshipmen captured four of the top five individual spots, while placing 10 runners in the top 12 to clinch the win. The Mids utilized strong pack running to overpower the Black Knights, posting a tight 1-5 spread of 43.5 seconds and an average finish time of 24:05.8.
"Dane, James, and company made a great memory today," head coach Aaron Lanzall said after the race. "The team assembled is good and getting better. It was an aggressive race and a well fought win. These guys want to be excellent, and they got off the line today in the best way to pursue our championship season to its full capacity. It was a rundown top to bottom of Navy runners getting a glimpse at what they can achieve in bigger ways in the weeks ahead.
Junior Dane Eike led the way, claiming the individual title with a winning time of 23:46.4. Eike started the race in third through the first 1,000m and moved up to second place one mile in. The junior took the lead at the fourth check point and never looked back, cruising to the 12-second victory.
Junior James Partlow followed closely to take second place, crossing the finish line in 23:58.5. Sophomore Luke Bowlsby and junior Trevor Hayes finished fourth and fifth overall, clocking times of 24:05.8 and 24:08.7, respectively. Sophomore Shane Conroy rounded out Navy's scoring five, securing seventh place in 24:29.8.
"Dane expected to make a move when he was ready and then run away, he did it. James and Luke expected to make some moves and fight off some challenges, and they did it. Trevor jumped back into the spot he should be in right there with the best. We finally had Shane Conroy get a real look at his abilities once he has a clean week of training, rest, and focus.
"Top 5 are all underclass and two sophomores is unexpected for us. Zack is also right there and having a shot at the year he has worked hard to find; he certainly earned his Star today. Jace ran fearless again today and took no notice of class rank or structure, what a great future outlook!"
Senior Zack Poekert (24:30.5) and freshman Jace Deledonne (24:31.8) finished eighth and ninth as displacers, locking out the top 10 and cementing Navy's dominant performance.
Junior Patrick Gandini (24:37.5), junior Billy Driscoll (24:37.6), senior Owen Ahten (24:42.5), freshman Dom Pappagallo (24:50.4), and junior Jonathan Skemp (25:29.3) also competed for the Midshipmen.
"That whole pack of Navy runners would have been our fifth runner to score the same victory, it was a bludgeoning force including Pat who is returning to form, Billy and Owen. With the great runners each class is producing, it's tough to just get a spot on the line for our team, so Dom also earning his Star today is a notable achievement for our second freshman. They want some even better races ahead to be content with the season, regardless, today was a great star victory, very proud of them."
