Women's XC Challenges Navy in Annual Star Meet

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's cross country team will host service-academy rival Navy on Saturday for its annual Star Meet against the Midshipmen as part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA.

The race will be held at Bowdoin Park, in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., and is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

The 2017 meet marks the 32nd all-time meeting in the storied battle between the two academies. Both Army and Navy raced at Lehigh's Paul Short Run on Sept 29th, with the Black Knights finishing 21^st in front of the Midshipmen who placed 27^th.

Navy currently leads the all-time series, 21-10, with a running streak of six meets.

Coach's Corner:
"There is a great deal of anticipation, said head coach Mike Smith. "We expect to have some fans out there, so it will be a nice home-field advantage."

"Our top returners for the women; Bethany Nunnery, she won the meet last year, she ran well two weeks ago, and she's running well now. Abby Halbrook, our captain, she is a very dependable, very competitive runner and I would expect those two to be our leaders. I think both meets will be close, so I'm looking forward to the competitiveness of it as well. The more we race, the more experience we get, and we will race at the level that we have trained. Once we do that, we will start to reach our potential. 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
• Army's last win over Navy came in 2010 when the Black Knights took home a 26-29 victory in Annapolis.
• Sophomores Bethany Nunnery and Ramsey Wagner have provided a lot of strength for the young Black Knights this season as both have scored in each meet this season.
• Freshman Mika Andrews has also continued to impress, being in a scoring position for the Maine Dual and Paul Short Run.
• The Black Knights' best times came in the Maine Dual, with the top five finishing between 18:50 -19:07.

NAVY
• Sophomore Claire Ostrowski finished as the lead scorer for Navy in two meets this season.
• Juniors Rachel Fairbanks and Ali Valenti have both placed in scoring position for the Mids in four meets this season.
• The Mids ran their best race at the William & Mary Cross Country Invitational, with the top five finishing between 18:29.64-19:13.3.

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 women's cross country, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on Twitter.

Women's XC Challenges Navy in Annual Star Meet

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Players Mentioned

Mika Andrews

Abby Halbrook

Bethany Nunnery

Army West Point Athletics