Army West Point Athletics
Saturday, October 14
Wappingers Falls, NY
10 AM
Army West Point
27
vs
28
Navy
Black Knights Snap Navy Streak
October 14, 2017 | Women's Cross Country
WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. - Led by junior Abby Halbrook, the women's cross country team defeated Navy, 27-28, on Saturday morning to take the Star at Bowdoin Park.
The Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA, is now 4-0-1 in favor of the Black Knights after the women's victory.
The Black Knights finished in three of the top six spots to edge the Mids.
STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE - Head Coach Mike Smith
"What we saw out there today was a race for the ages. I say that in part because winning cross country meets against Navy has not happened very often for Army but also because of the dramatic way that it played out in the end.
"Our 1-2 finish from Abby Halbrook and Bethany Nunnery put us in the drivers seat but we needed some late heroics from one of our plebes to pull out the win. Our number four today was Mika Andrews and she came down the finish straight in ninth place trailing the Navy number five runner. If the places stayed the same at the finish we would lose the meet by one point.
"But with 10 meters to go, Mika put on a surge and passed the Navy runner going into the line and flipped the score giving us the one point win. It definitely was not how I drew it up when I scored the meet but I will take it. In this kind of rivalry anything can happen and emotions run high. I cautioned our women to stay composed and avoid distractions today. I think that they embraced that and measured their effort throughout the race and each one of them moved up in the later stages of the race. That is what separates good teams from average teams. You have to be moving at the end and can't rely on emotion to carry the day. This is a thinking game out there on the course. You have to trust your fitness and measure your effort. We showed some real patience for such a young group and in the end that made all the difference. I am proud of all of them. Proud of both their effort and their perseverance. Having said that we can run better than this and I expect us to do that going forward."
HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES
The Black Knights are back on the course on Nov. 10 for the Northeast Regional Championships.Â
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The Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA, is now 4-0-1 in favor of the Black Knights after the women's victory.
The Black Knights finished in three of the top six spots to edge the Mids.
STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE - Head Coach Mike Smith
"What we saw out there today was a race for the ages. I say that in part because winning cross country meets against Navy has not happened very often for Army but also because of the dramatic way that it played out in the end.
"Our 1-2 finish from Abby Halbrook and Bethany Nunnery put us in the drivers seat but we needed some late heroics from one of our plebes to pull out the win. Our number four today was Mika Andrews and she came down the finish straight in ninth place trailing the Navy number five runner. If the places stayed the same at the finish we would lose the meet by one point.
"But with 10 meters to go, Mika put on a surge and passed the Navy runner going into the line and flipped the score giving us the one point win. It definitely was not how I drew it up when I scored the meet but I will take it. In this kind of rivalry anything can happen and emotions run high. I cautioned our women to stay composed and avoid distractions today. I think that they embraced that and measured their effort throughout the race and each one of them moved up in the later stages of the race. That is what separates good teams from average teams. You have to be moving at the end and can't rely on emotion to carry the day. This is a thinking game out there on the course. You have to trust your fitness and measure your effort. We showed some real patience for such a young group and in the end that made all the difference. I am proud of all of them. Proud of both their effort and their perseverance. Having said that we can run better than this and I expect us to do that going forward."
HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES
- The win over Navy halted a six-meet winning streak by the Mids.
- Halbrook's win today following Nunnery's win last year; marked the first back-to-back Army individual star wins since 2003/2004
- Andrews helped clinch the win for the Black Knights by overtaking Rachel Fairbanks for eighth in a photo finish at the line. She finished with a time of 20:21.50.
- Halbrook finished first for the Black Knights with a time of 19:33.80.
- Nunnery wasn't far behind Halbrook, taking second, crossing the line at 19:36.90.
- Navy leads the series by a 21-11 margin after Army's win today.
The Black Knights are back on the course on Nov. 10 for the Northeast Regional Championships.Â
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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