Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Patriot League
Army Wins Big at Patriot League Championships
October 28, 2017 | Men's Cross Country
COACH'S QUOTES:
"We thought we had a chance to win today, but knew it would be a single digit meet that could go either way between us and Navy," said head coach Mike Smith. "We also knew that if we were patient, there would be opportunities late in the race to close gaps and pick up places. Our strategy was a bit of a risk because the last mile of this course is not very demanding. We had to make certain that we were charging hard over that mile in order to prevail and I think every guy picked up a few places from 4 miles to the finish."
"I am proud of all of them but especially that top 5. Robbie [Santoyo] and John [Valeri] didn't panic when they were dropped from the top pack. They just waited for the right moment to strike and then hammered home and caught almost all of the guys that went too soon. Roman [Ollar] and Ben [Petrella] ran together as they have all year and then moved up right when it counted including ben passing Navy's number 4 right at the line."
"And then there was Daniel [Mazzei] in the 15th. He collapsed on the course at Army-Navy and we were not really sure what we would see from him today and as it turns out he gave us the best race of his young career. We had hoped he could be in the top 20 so for him to be 15th and earning Rookie of the Meet was tremendous. I am so proud of how he bounced back from the adversity of 2 weeks ago. He showed great poise and determination and just pure "want to" out there today."
"That is what you get when you coach these kids. They are sometimes fearless and always determined. Execution proved to be our strength today. But that is not a surprise. This group of men has answered every challenge this year and now they are champions for the first time in a long time. We shared the title in 2008 and our last outright title was in 2001 so this is a significant milestone for these guys. They worked hard to get to where they are and now they can enjoy this accomplishment for a little bit and then we have to look to tackle the next challenge of the NCAA regional meet. I told the guys that we have to have a short memory in sports. Short memory when you are good and short memory when it doesn't go your way. It went our way today but there is more work to do if we want to feel like champions again this year. They rose to this challenge now it is on to the next."
ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES
- The Black Knights were led by sophomore Robbie Santoyo with a time of 24:22.45, which was good for third place.
- He was followed closely by senior John Valeri who took fourth, clocking a time of 24:24.24.
- Freshman Daniel Mazzei had an impressive performance in his first championship meet, closing out the Army top five spots in 15th with a time of 24:52.25.
- Mazzei also earned rookie of the meet honors. He is the first recipient of that award for Army since the award was established in 2004.Â
- The last time Army won a Patriot League Championship was a tie with Navy in 2008, and before that, the championship title in 2001.
- Head coach Mike Smith was named Patriot League Coach of the Year and was the first Army coach since Jerry Quiller in 2001.
- It was the first time since 2001 that the men and women finished one and two in their respective meets.
- Santoyo and Valeri earned First-Team All-Patriot League honors, while Ollar and Petrella garnered Second-Team All-Patriot League honors.Â
INDIVIDUAL FINISHES
3. Robbie Santoyo, So                        24:22.45
4. John Valeri, Sr                               24:24.24
9. Roman Ollar, So                              24:33.05
12.Benjamin Petrella, So                    24: 42.20
15. Daniel Mazzei                               24:52.25
FINAL RESULTS
1. Army                              (43)
2. Navy                                 (47)
3. Boston U.                         (79)
4. American                         (88)
5. Bucknell                           (94)
6. Lehigh                              (126)
7. Holy Cross                       (230)
8. Lafayette                         (248)
9. Colgate                            (257)
10. Loyola                    (305)
UP NEXT:
Army will travel to Buffalo, N.Y., for the Northeast Regional Championships on Nov. 10th.
For more information on Army West Point men's cross country team, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on Twitter.
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Players Mentioned
