Men's XC Hosts Navy in Annual Star Meet

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's cross country team will host rival Navy at Bowdoin Park, in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., for the annual Star Meet against Navy as part of the Star Series, presented by USAA. The race is scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 14, at 11 a.m.

The 2017 meet will mark the 80th all-time meeting in the storied competition between the two academies. 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.

Navy currently leads the all-time series 49-29-1 with a streak of three meets.

Coach's Corner:
"We are healthy, fit, ready to go, motivated, excited," said head coach Mike Smith. "We look forward to the opportunity to show case our new venue. It's the right time of year for us to have this meet. There is a great deal of history and tradition to the meet and it's fun to be a part of that and the meaning behind it."

"I think both meets will be close, so I'm looking forward to the competitiveness of it as well. On the men's side, our captain John Valeri has lead us, and I would expect he continue to do the same. We've got a lot of depth behind those people, we have a lot of young talent. I'm hopeful that happens this weekend, if we get five people to click on the same day, and run to their potential then we will be pretty good. I'm cautiously optimistic. I know we are better than we've been because of our talent and our depth. Now all that remains is for us to demonstrate that, and I think we can."

ARMY
• 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.
• He has also been Army's top finisher in two meets this year.
• 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.

NAVY
• Navy has had three first-place finishes this season, each with a different individual champion.
• The Mids ran their best race at the Paul Short Run, with their top five finishing between 23:57-24:41.
• Sophomore Kevin Murray has been in a scoring position for Navy in four meets throughout the 2017 season, finishing as the lead scorer for the Mids twice.

Up Next:
The Black Knights head to Bethlehem, Pa., to compete in the Patriot League Championships on Oct. 28.

For more information on Army West Point men's cross country, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on Twitter.

Men's XC Hosts Navy in Annual Star Meet

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Daniel Mazzei

Roman Ollar

John Valeri

Army West Point Athletics