Women's Cross Country Finishes Second at Patriot League Championships

Friday, March 5

Bethlehem, PA

1 PM

Army West Point

Patriot League Championships

Women's Cross Country Finishes Second at Patriot League Championships

March 05, 2021 | Women's Cross Country

BETHLEHEM, PA - The Army West Point cross country teams competed in the 2021 Patriot League Championship on Friday afternoon, with the women's team finishing in second place just behind Boston University.

The Black Knights opened the day with a strong second place finish, posting three top 10 finalists. Georgia Jones led the pack for Army, securing a third-place time of 19:52.6 followed by fellow freshman Sophia Sandy who finished fifth overall with a time of 20:09.3. Mika Andrews rounded things out at ninth overall, posting a time of 20:20.9 at the 3.7-mile mark. The three top runners allowed Army to compete to 47 team points, tied with Boston University, forcing the tiebreaker to be broken by comparing in order the place finish of each of the five scoring members of the tied teams. The team with the majority of winning comparisons shall be awarded the higher place, allowing the Terriers to secure the overall team win.

The rookies Jones and Sandy's top five finishes earned them All-Patriot League First Team honors while Andrews and Morgan Chewning-Kulick secured second-team All-League recognition. Jones' third-place finish as a freshman also grabs her the Patriot League Outstanding Rookie of the Meet.

Head Coach Mike Smith's Thoughts: "We maxed out our points today because each one of our women ran to their potential. That almost never happens. I attribute that in large part to our team leadership. We have two captains in this group in Mika Andrews and Morgan Chewning-Kulick and they have set the standard of expectation every day in practice and today in the big moment they stood tall. Our women were quite disappointed at learning of the tie. They had it in their heads that they would win today and that is how they ran. It was pretty clear as the race developed that our women were determined to do exactly what was asked of them. Jordan Jones was our 5th today and she knew she had to be in the top 20. She was in the top 20 the entire race and when it came to crunch time and moves had to be made, she was right there doing her job. She moved on a pack of runners in the last 800 and brought us right to the team lead. I have a lot of good things to say about Jordan. But if I had to pick one it would be her consistency in everything she does. Her attitude, her effort, and her determination never stray far from the level of excellence and that was on display today. Our 4th runner today was Morgan Chewning-Kulick. Morgan has had a love hate relationship with cross country her entire career. In fact she has never really run a good or even strong cross country race. Until today. And it was probably the best race she has ever run..period. You have to admire a kid for stepping up at the championship level. I have always felt like my job is to give these kids a chance to reveal their character. Sometimes a kid figures out what it takes to be good in a matter of months and sometimes it takes a career. As a coach e just have to be patient and keep athletes pointed in the right direction. No matter how long it takes. In the end all that matters is that they figure out how to perform. And once they do it, it becomes a habit and they can go forward from there. Today Morgan figured out how to run to her potential and whether it just clicked for her or she felt some expectation to step up for her team doesn't really matter. She got the job done and this is how she will remember cross country.....with her best effort. I am so proud of her.

Our other captain was our number 3 today. Mika Andrews has been our leader on and off the course all year and today was more of the same. We expected her to be in the top 10 and she was never out of the top 10 the entire race. She is as dependable as they come and is also one of our grittiest competitors. She told me that she didn't feel all that good today but you would never know that by how she competed and that is what separates her from average people. She is able to push herself to her absolute limits no matter what the circumstances. She drove our team performance today.

Our top 2 today were both plebes. I thought Sophia Sandy ran an incredible race. She has gotten better and better all year and today we saw her best race of the year. She ran with Mika early in the race and just kept moving forward putting us closer and closer to the win. She was disappointed in having been passed late in the race but has no reason to hang her head. We have only had two women finish higher than her at this meet in the 7 years that I have been here. Abby Halbrook was 2nd in 2017 and Georgia Jones was 3rd today. That is how good Sophia was today.

Then there was Georgia Jones. She has been our number one runner in every race this year and today I felt like she could be in the top 3 if she ran to her potential. She did exactly that. She is a fearless competitor and moved into 2nd late in the race giving us a chance to win the team title. It would be easy to take her for granted given how consistently good she has been. But what we have seen from her has to be one of the most outstanding plebe cross country seasons in the history of our program. I will have to look at all the statistics but After this race today I don't think there has ever been a plebe that has run at the level that Georgia has. What we have seen from her is simply extraordinary. As I said after the Star meet win in the fall, she was a soccer player in high school and only experimented with cross country toward the end of her senior year. It defies logic that someone that inexperienced would step onto the big stage and perform as well as she has. Yet In Every meet she has run for army she has finished in the top 3. Which in itself is not special but when you look at who she has competed against and who she has beaten, her performances rise to a much higher level of significance She is one of the brightest stars at this institution.

I know that I have said a lot about a 2nd place finish but what these women did in getting to the starting line was no small accomplishment. And for them to perform as they did today was simply incredible. If you compare the high school record of our lineup against our opponents we are not even close to the same level. Our kids are so disciplined and so determined that they are able to close the talent gap. That determination was evident today and it almost equaled a win. we have faced incredible uncertainty in managing the pandemic and I am so proud of how our women have managed the daily ups and downs. It felt like a let down to the women that they were unable to pull out the win but it really was a victory for us in just getting to this meet given the challenges we have faced. I am proud of all of them."

Event Finishes:

Women's
3rd: Georgia Jones (19:52.6)
5^th: Sophia Sandy (20:09.3)
9^th: Mika Andrews (20:20.9)
13^th: Morgan Chewning-Kulick (20:36.3)
17^th: Jordan Jones (20:49.0)
26^th: Arielle Zlotnick (21:07.1)
47^th: Evie Bell (21:53.4)

Compiled Results: https://results.leonetiming.com/xc.html?mid=2150