Jones Captures Patriot League Championship Individual Title

Sunday, October 31

Bethlehem, PA

11:00 AM

Army West Point

Patriot League Championships

Jones Captures Patriot League Championship Individual Title

October 31, 2021 | Women's Cross Country

MEET 6
MEET	2021 Patriot League Championship
RESULTS	Third
RACE DISTANCE	6K
TEAMS	Army, American, Boston, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy
LOCATION	Goodman Campus Course

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sophomore Georgia Jones won the 2021 Patriot League Women's Cross Country Individual Championship on Sunday morning. Jones completed the 6K race in 21:03.9 to finish almost six seconds ahead of defending champion Ashlyn Ramos (Bucknell). Jones becomes the third Cadet in program history to win the individual title joining Catherine Gaffigan (1993, 1994) and Jessica Jones (1996).

Jones, a two-time Patriot League Runner of the Week recipient, was in third place at the 1-mile mark trailing Boston's Corinne Batsu and Andrea Claeson. However, at the two-mile mark she edged in front of Ramos for a lead she would not relinquish. Jones has led the Black Knights in every race she has participated, including winning the Star Meet and setting a program record at this same course in the Paul Short Run.

As a team, the Black Knights placed third with 70 points and an average time of 22:04.8. Lily Nunnery was second on the team with a time of 22:16.5 for a 14^th place finish. Ariella Zlotnick and Melissa Jachim finished back-to-back in 17^th and 18^th place, respectively. Sophia Sandy completed the scoring with a 20^th place finish. Defending champion Bucknell, who won on a tie-breaker over Army last spring, finished second while Navy took home the team title.

COACH'S CORNER
"Going into the meet today I felt like we could get third place if we ran to our potential. We ran well enough to make that happen, although I think we leave here disappointed that we were not good enough to compete for a title. Our expectations for this program have gotten much higher in recent years and as our personnel has improved so has our performance. We lost Helen Shearer to an injury at the Star Meet and her absence had a significant impact on our lineup today. Having said that, we had some really good runs out there today that kept us relevant for most of the race. The rain that has saturated this course over the last week, definitely played a role in the race today as the pace was rather conservative throughout the early going. The footing was slick and soggy in a lot of places and the first mile was pedestrian with a large pack of women all competing near the front of the race. It stayed pretty tight until the 2 mile and then things started to spread out. We did a nice job of getting into the race and then attacking over the last half. Lily Nunnery and Arielle Zlotnick are two of our more experienced athletes and that experience paid off today as they kept moving up in the race. Melissa Jachim ran the best race of her young career today and was able to get the rookie of the year award based on her 18^th place finish. She has shown some improvement in training and today she was able to demonstrate that fitness in the race. Sophia Sandy was one of the top finishers in this race last year and has struggled to get back to that form this fall but has made some nice improvements in the last few weeks and today was a continuation of her fitness progression. Of all of our performers today, Georgia Jones was the most impressive. She has shown the ability to compete at a high level this fall in some very competitive races and today she felt the pressure of being the favorite. That can be a difficult situation for someone so young but is something she will have to become accustomed to going forward. She knew that she needed to take command of the race at some point if she wanted to win and as the leaders approached the 2 mile she decided to test the field going into the first of a series of hills. She pushed hard enough to string out the race and get it down to her and the number one runner from Bucknell. Then she moved again on the second hill and created a gap that she never relinquished. It was not an unexpected win for her given what we have seen this fall but winning is never easy and for our program this win was significant. Today's individual Patriot League title was the first for an Army woman since 1996. In that 25 year span, we have had some talented people come through the program but finding the right recipe on this day has eluded even our best women. So it was a remarkable performance today from one of our young stars. Georgia exhibited the kind of confident, aggressive running that will serve her well in the future. I am proud of the way she handled herself out there." Mike Smith

CADET'S CORNER

Comments from Georgia Jones pic.twitter.com/z3ONG5iMgm
— Army Track & XC (@ArmyWP_TrackXC) October 31, 2021

TOP FINISHERS

Georgia Jones - 21:03.9
(14) Lily Nunnery – 22:16.5
(17) Arielle Zlotnick – 22:19.9
(18) Melissa Jachim – 22:20.9
(20) Sophia Sandy – 22:22.6

2021 Patriot League Cross Country Major Awards
Women's Outstanding Performer of the Meet: Georgia Jones, Army West Point, So.
Women's Rookie of the Meet: Melissa Jachim, Army West Point, Fr.
Women's Coach of the Year: Kim Lewnes, Navy

2021 Patriot League Cross Country Women's Championship Team Results
1. Navy, 47
2. Boston University, 52
3. Army West Point, 70
4. Bucknell, 119
5. Lehigh, 160
6. Holy Cross, 191
7. Lafayette, 194
8. Loyola Maryland, 204
9. Colgate, 226
10. American, 298

First-Team All-Patriot League (Women): 1. Georgia Jones, Army West Point, So.; 2. Ashlyn Ramos, Bucknell, Sr.; 3. Andrea Claeson, Boston University, Jr.; 4. Corinne Batsu, Boston University, Sr.; 5. Meghan Convery, Boston University, Sr.; 6. Eve Feuerbach, Holy Cross, Jr.; 7. Elizabeth Sullivan, Navy, Jr.

Second-Team All-Patriot League (Women): 8.Eleanor Abraham, Navy, So; 9. Winter Boese, Navy, Jr.; 10. Autumn Sands, Lafayette, Sr.; 11. Maddie Warrender, Navy, Sr.; 12. Emily Boutin, Navy, So.; 13. Jessica Nangle, Navy, Sr.; 14. Lily Nunnery, Army West Point, Jr.

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