Women's Cross Country Takes Home Star in Win Over Navy

Saturday, October 19

Annapolis, Md.

Army West Point

Star Meet

Women's Cross Country Takes Home Star in Win Over Navy

October 19, 2024 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Army West Point women's cross country team defeated Navy by a score of 20-35 to capture the second consecutive star in the Star Series presented by USAA.

Charlotte Richman won the race with a time of 20:50.86. Army then had 2-4 with Louisa Diamond, Leah Richardson, and Joanna Halfhill guiding Army to the win. Laurynn Sisneros wrapped up the top 10 finishers for the Black Knights.

This is the first time since 2020 that the Black Knights brought home the win in Annapolis and only the second time since 2010. The 15 point win is the largest margin of victory for Army since 2005 when it won by 21.

The men's side fell by a score of 45-18 with Nathan Davis as the lone top 10 finisher, placing third with a time of 23:42.50.

Next up for Army is the Patriot League Championship on Nov. 2. The women's side is the defending champion.

COACHES CORNER

WOMEN

We won the meet handily today and while it was a satisfying win for the women, it was far from the complete victory that I think we are capable of. We have a good team and we were well prepared for this meet in every way possible. We knew the course, we knew what we do well and we knew their weaknesses. We set up a race plan to capitalize on our strengths, and to exploit their weaknesses. We were successful for the most part. But we could have done more…and we will need to do more if we are to reach our goals this season. We controlled the race from the start. We have more depth, more talent and more experience than our opponent and we wanted to establish that right from the start. At the first kilometer, we had 9 women in the lead pack of 10. It was a formidable show of strength that set the tone for what was to follow. Before the mile mark, Charlotte Richman '26 and Louisa Diamond '27 broke free of the lead pack and pushed ahead. Those two women have been training partners all fall. They complement each other and sometimes we have to be careful about what we do with them because they are so eager to hammer in training. Today they moved in synch. It was a commanding move and was unchallenged. We had intended for them to make the move later in the race, but they were restless with the slow pace and took matters into their own hands. They ran side by side until the 4K where Louisa fell back a bit and they never re-connected. I felt like that was a missed opportunity for us to get more out of the race but those two had blinders on at that point and were trying to make sure that no one could catch them. In the end, there was no-one anywhere close to them. The only midshipmen that they saw today were spectators. Charlotte's win was the third individual win for our women in the last 4 years following wins by Georgia Jones '24 in 2022, 2021. It was the 17^th overall win for an Army woman in the 39-year history of the meet. Her time of 20:50 was the fastest time ever run at the Star meet on the current course in Annapolis. Charlotte has been a star for us since her arrival as a guest to our team in 2022. She started out as a basketball player and has since become a dominant Patriot League cross country runner. She has elevated the training level of our team, the expectations of our team and the competitive level of our team. All without saying a word about it. She doesn't say much. Her actions do the talking. I don't think she has ever given less than her best effort in anything that she does. That attitude serves her well in competition but can be detrimental in training. She is starting to learn how to manage the flow of training and today we saw the result of that. Her win was dominating. The team race was all but over by the halfway point. A 1-2-3 finish in a dual meet is an automatic win. At the 3km mark, Leah Richardson '27 was running as our number 3 and was third in the race. She was being challenged by the top navy runner at that point but once they hit the hills at 4km, Leah easily outlasted the challenge and was never pressed again. She crossed the line in third place effectively sealing the victory for the team. Leah has emerged this season after a non-descript plebe year. She had a nice high school career but struggled with injuries that limited her training. What stood out the most about Leah, was how she competed. When she raced, you couldn't help but notice that she always seemed to race way above her fitness level. She has a very high pain tolerance and a gritty determination that can't be taught. I have known her since she was very young and have watched her grow and mature as a person and an athlete. She is immune to the kind of adversity that we talk about when we reference sports. That has given her great perspective on what it is to persevere. There are few with the kind of mettle that she possesses, and we are seeing a reflection of her toughness in how she competes. She doesn't overthink it. She knows how to run hard and she isn't afraid of pain. So today, in the biggest race of her young career (her first ever Star meet), she found herself in third place with the meet outcome in her hands. She was unphased by all of it and just ran her guts out all the way to the line. She was a star. Next to cross the line in the race today was our team captain, Joanna Halfhill '25. Her 4^th place finish in the race completed the 1-2-3-4 sweep. Joanna is always where she is supposed to be and that is usually in our top 5. Whereas a year ago she found herself thrust into a leadership role, she is now firmly entrenched in the position. She epitomizes the concept of the commanders calm. At the 4k mark in the race, the mids mounted a challenge and two women pressed Joanna for possession of the 5^th spot in the race. Joanna recognized the feint for what it was and resisted the urge to react choosing instead to patiently grind through the hills with a maintenance of effort. She put distance on the women that had challenged her and stalked the top mid runner who had been dispatched by Leah Richardson. Jo caught that runner and facing little opposition, passed her to set us up for the first four across the line. Behind Joanna, the opposition brought in their top 5 runners. Our 5^th was right behind their 5^th. While that had little to do with the scoring outcome, it wasn't what we expected from our 5-7 runners. Our 1-5 spread two weeks ago was 26 seconds. Today it was over a minute. The women know that we weren't perfect today; they know that we missed some opportunities. But that is often the nature of this meet. It is a spirited rivalry and if both teams show up, there are no guarantees. We did well to bring home the win but there is still some work to do.

MEN

We certainly had higher expectations for our team today. Our performance two weeks ago was an example of our competitive grit and good race plan execution. Today was not. We got out into the race early with our top 5 guys but when the breaks happened midway through the race, we did not respond. Nathan Davis was the lone exception. When the break happened, he went right with it and challenged for the lead through the first 3 miles. He lost concentration for a moment at 5k and got gapped. He dropped back to 2nd place and then was quickly caught by another runner. In third with a half mile to go, he regained his competitive mindset and surged forward in response to another challenge from a midshipman. He held his position to the line and claimed 3^rd overall and first for our team. His time of 23:42 is the fastest time ever run by an Army man on the 4.9 mile navy course. He has improved significantly over the last year and has connected his racing mindset to his training fitness. This is the third consecutive race in which he has led us and his consistency has been a model for his teammates. He and his fellow class of 2026 teammates (Marc Baroncini, and Anthony Diaz) have been our top performers this season. But today we fell short of our expectations. We didn't run like a team, and we didn't respond to the challenges. At a meet like this, that will result in a defeat. The best way to move forward from a defeat such as this is to take responsibility for the performance and make corrections. The guys are resilient, and they will bounce back.