Army West Point Athletics
Women Put Together Perfect Score to Win Star
October 18, 2025 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's cross country team defeated Navy in dominant fashion on Saturday morning, putting together a perfect score to capture the first star of the day in the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
Army's Charlotte Richman was the individual winner with a blistering time of 19.49.6, which is a new personal best for the senior out of Portland, Ore. She finished 25 seconds ahead of second place. Richman's previous best 6k time was 20:16.5 at the Patriot League Championships last season, which earned a second-place finish. Richman was also the winner of the meet last season in Annapolis.
Louisa Diamond (20:14.5), Mikayla Cheney (20:14.6), Mia Royall (20:18.7), Alma Lazo Cazares (20:19.9) and Claire Lewis (20:23.1) followed behind Richman to sweep the top six spots of the race.
The women's program has now won the last three meets against Navy, with this win being the most dominant over that stretch.
On the men's side, Navy came away with 26-29 victory. The Black Knights performed well and did so without captain Nathan Davis. Adam Furman was Army's top finisher in third place with a time of 23.38.7, marking a new personal best for the junior. Parker Harris (23:40.6) and Maximus Haynia (23:40.6) each posted personal bests to round out the top five.
Anthony Davis (7th place) and Gavin Hansen (10th place) also had top 10 finishes for the Black Knights. Navy has now won the last seven matchups on the men's side, but this was the narrowest margin of victory for the Midshipmen since 2019 when it won by two points.
Coaches Corner – Director of Cross Country Mike Smith
Women's Team
"When our women reported for our preseason training back in August, they reported with big goals. One of those goals was achieved today in the Star Meet out at the West Point Golf Course. Our win today was complete and the most dominant Army performance in the history of the Star Meet. We won this meet in 2024 by sweeping the top four places in the race, but the opponent scored the next five places, and our winning total was 20 points. A good solid win to be sure. In 2001, we scored 19 points and in 2003 we scored 18 points. All of those wins were clear victories. But today we set a new standard of excellence. Today, the Army women totaled 15 points in a race against Navy. To be clear, a total of 15 points indicates that the winning team swept the top five places. It is the lowest possible score in a cross-country dual meet. In the 40 years that this meet has been contested, no Army team has scored as low as that. But it gets better. Today, we did more than just get the clean sweep. We took the top six spots in the race. No Army team has turned out the lights on the opponent quite like we did today; the outcome was never in doubt. At the outset, Charlotte Richman '26 took control of the race and ran away from everyone. She won this meet last year in Annapolis and today she locked into what she does best and hammered the pace from the gun. She faced no challenges, and her determination was evident in how she drove herself from point to point on the course. She had this to say about the race, "I felt super strong and knew my legs were back from the charge up the first hill. As soon as I saw that none of the Navy runners wanted to challenge our top girls in the first 1K, I decided I just wanted to go out and push as hard as I could. I just wanted to get everything out of myself today. I heard from everyone cheering that it was all my teammates behind me with no Navy runners in there and that was my motivation to keep pressing and just dominate the other team as much as possible!" Behind Charlotte, we had two packs of runners. In the first pack, Mikayla Cheney '27 and Louisa Diamond '27 connected with each other early in the race a short distance behind Charlotte and settled in with the top Navy runner. When that runner started to fade, they pushed past her and never saw her again. The Navy attrition continued as the race progressed. Mikayla had this to say about the meet and the race, "Army-Navy is always one of my favorite meets in every season and today was no different. You could feel the energy from our girls today. There was the usual nervousness but there was also the understanding that we had a chance to make a statement today. A statement for ourselves, for the rest of our team, the conference, and even the region. Our team is so incredibly strong this year. We are mentally strong, and physically strong. You combine that with the racing chemistry that we have with one another, and I truly believe our team is a force. It was evident today in how Louisa and I were able to pull each other. Then there was a pack with Mia, Alma, and Claire…. and the packs kept coming. The minute the gun went off, I felt the focus and determination of each girl and knew I was running for that." Behind Mikayla and Louisa, we had a group of three women. In that group, Mia Royall '28, Alma Lazo Cazeres '28 and our team captain, Claire Lewis '26 packed up tightly and started hunting Navy runners. There were only two to chase. Our threesome hunted them down one by one and dispatched them by the 4k mark. From that point forward, all of our women charged forward, uncontested, spurred along by the cheers of the pro-Army crowd. At the finish line our sixth runner was ahead of the top runner from Navy by 26 seconds. That time separation happened in the last 1000m of the race. It was a result of our women charging to the line one after the other. Alma had this to say about her race, "Going into the race, I felt like I was our number five or six runner, so I knew that I had to execute no matter how I felt. So, in the race, even though I couldn't get comfortable, I took everything that they did personally. Every time they pushed me or said something to me or cut in front of us, I took it personally and it pushed me to fight my own doubts. And when I saw Mikayla make the decision to go with Louisa, it pushed me to stick with Mia and Claire." It was an electric atmosphere out at the course and a true home field advantage for our team. This win marks our third consecutive win for the women in the Star Meet. The last time our program did that was when we won five in a row from 2001-2005. Our senior women will now graduate with three cross country gold stars. The last class of Army women to achieve that feat was the graduating class of 2007. Everything clicked for our women today. We often talk about "sayers" and "doers". It is one thing to say something and an entirely different thing to then go do it. Our women said what they were going to do and then they went out and did it. They are sayers and doers. This group has been a pleasure to coach. They are ambitious, they are talented, they are driven, they are committed, they are connected to their purpose and to each other. We have more goals to achieve and more work to do to reach those goals."
Men's Team
"Our men's team came of age today. We ran as well as we could run with the men that we put on the starting line, and we grew up together in this race in a way that just cannot happen in practice. There is a lot we learn about ourselves when we are forced out of comfort zone and pushed beyond the limits that we have set for ourselves as safe. Today our men lost the Star meet by a score of 26-29. We ran to win the Star and through 7300 meters we had it won…but in the last 400m we couldn't hold the lead we had built, and the score flipped from 27-28 in our favor to a 26-29 defeat. We were so close. Close doesn't get you anything other than a good look on the scoreboard. But…. the competitive effort of our guys and the way they went about their business in the race today was impressive, gutsy, and indicative of the level of "want to" that the Academy expects and we as coaches demand. I walk away from the meet disappointed in the loss but very optimistic about where we can go in the next few weeks if we can line up with all of our guys and run the way we ran today. I expect our guys to perform to their potential, but it doesn't always happen. It did today. A Star Meet win comes from an absolute commitment to trying to win in how you go about daily business and a commitment to the execution of what it takes to win in the race. We have had the necessary commitment all season and today we added the execution. I am proud of our guys and their effort. We were patient with the early pace and then in the middle of the race, we moved. Pack running is something we have worked on repeatedly in training and today the guys reproduced exactly what we expected from them. We knew our course, and we knew how we needed to run it to win. We had four men that moved as a unit and for much of the race, they held the 2,3,4,5 places in the race. They drew strength from running together and they held each other accountable throughout. The end result isn't what we wanted but the attitude of our guys was very positive in the aftermath and it was refreshing to hear them talk about what they learned today and what their intentions are in the championships meets that remain on our schedule. Our guys have the confidence that if they race the way they did today, they can take things to another level. We were very good today, just not quite good enough."
Up Next
The Black Knights return to action in two weeks at the Patriot League Cross Country Championships on Friday, Oct. 31, at Lehigh.
Army's Charlotte Richman was the individual winner with a blistering time of 19.49.6, which is a new personal best for the senior out of Portland, Ore. She finished 25 seconds ahead of second place. Richman's previous best 6k time was 20:16.5 at the Patriot League Championships last season, which earned a second-place finish. Richman was also the winner of the meet last season in Annapolis.
Louisa Diamond (20:14.5), Mikayla Cheney (20:14.6), Mia Royall (20:18.7), Alma Lazo Cazares (20:19.9) and Claire Lewis (20:23.1) followed behind Richman to sweep the top six spots of the race.
The women's program has now won the last three meets against Navy, with this win being the most dominant over that stretch.
On the men's side, Navy came away with 26-29 victory. The Black Knights performed well and did so without captain Nathan Davis. Adam Furman was Army's top finisher in third place with a time of 23.38.7, marking a new personal best for the junior. Parker Harris (23:40.6) and Maximus Haynia (23:40.6) each posted personal bests to round out the top five.
Anthony Davis (7th place) and Gavin Hansen (10th place) also had top 10 finishes for the Black Knights. Navy has now won the last seven matchups on the men's side, but this was the narrowest margin of victory for the Midshipmen since 2019 when it won by two points.
Coaches Corner – Director of Cross Country Mike Smith
Women's Team
"When our women reported for our preseason training back in August, they reported with big goals. One of those goals was achieved today in the Star Meet out at the West Point Golf Course. Our win today was complete and the most dominant Army performance in the history of the Star Meet. We won this meet in 2024 by sweeping the top four places in the race, but the opponent scored the next five places, and our winning total was 20 points. A good solid win to be sure. In 2001, we scored 19 points and in 2003 we scored 18 points. All of those wins were clear victories. But today we set a new standard of excellence. Today, the Army women totaled 15 points in a race against Navy. To be clear, a total of 15 points indicates that the winning team swept the top five places. It is the lowest possible score in a cross-country dual meet. In the 40 years that this meet has been contested, no Army team has scored as low as that. But it gets better. Today, we did more than just get the clean sweep. We took the top six spots in the race. No Army team has turned out the lights on the opponent quite like we did today; the outcome was never in doubt. At the outset, Charlotte Richman '26 took control of the race and ran away from everyone. She won this meet last year in Annapolis and today she locked into what she does best and hammered the pace from the gun. She faced no challenges, and her determination was evident in how she drove herself from point to point on the course. She had this to say about the race, "I felt super strong and knew my legs were back from the charge up the first hill. As soon as I saw that none of the Navy runners wanted to challenge our top girls in the first 1K, I decided I just wanted to go out and push as hard as I could. I just wanted to get everything out of myself today. I heard from everyone cheering that it was all my teammates behind me with no Navy runners in there and that was my motivation to keep pressing and just dominate the other team as much as possible!" Behind Charlotte, we had two packs of runners. In the first pack, Mikayla Cheney '27 and Louisa Diamond '27 connected with each other early in the race a short distance behind Charlotte and settled in with the top Navy runner. When that runner started to fade, they pushed past her and never saw her again. The Navy attrition continued as the race progressed. Mikayla had this to say about the meet and the race, "Army-Navy is always one of my favorite meets in every season and today was no different. You could feel the energy from our girls today. There was the usual nervousness but there was also the understanding that we had a chance to make a statement today. A statement for ourselves, for the rest of our team, the conference, and even the region. Our team is so incredibly strong this year. We are mentally strong, and physically strong. You combine that with the racing chemistry that we have with one another, and I truly believe our team is a force. It was evident today in how Louisa and I were able to pull each other. Then there was a pack with Mia, Alma, and Claire…. and the packs kept coming. The minute the gun went off, I felt the focus and determination of each girl and knew I was running for that." Behind Mikayla and Louisa, we had a group of three women. In that group, Mia Royall '28, Alma Lazo Cazeres '28 and our team captain, Claire Lewis '26 packed up tightly and started hunting Navy runners. There were only two to chase. Our threesome hunted them down one by one and dispatched them by the 4k mark. From that point forward, all of our women charged forward, uncontested, spurred along by the cheers of the pro-Army crowd. At the finish line our sixth runner was ahead of the top runner from Navy by 26 seconds. That time separation happened in the last 1000m of the race. It was a result of our women charging to the line one after the other. Alma had this to say about her race, "Going into the race, I felt like I was our number five or six runner, so I knew that I had to execute no matter how I felt. So, in the race, even though I couldn't get comfortable, I took everything that they did personally. Every time they pushed me or said something to me or cut in front of us, I took it personally and it pushed me to fight my own doubts. And when I saw Mikayla make the decision to go with Louisa, it pushed me to stick with Mia and Claire." It was an electric atmosphere out at the course and a true home field advantage for our team. This win marks our third consecutive win for the women in the Star Meet. The last time our program did that was when we won five in a row from 2001-2005. Our senior women will now graduate with three cross country gold stars. The last class of Army women to achieve that feat was the graduating class of 2007. Everything clicked for our women today. We often talk about "sayers" and "doers". It is one thing to say something and an entirely different thing to then go do it. Our women said what they were going to do and then they went out and did it. They are sayers and doers. This group has been a pleasure to coach. They are ambitious, they are talented, they are driven, they are committed, they are connected to their purpose and to each other. We have more goals to achieve and more work to do to reach those goals."
Men's Team
"Our men's team came of age today. We ran as well as we could run with the men that we put on the starting line, and we grew up together in this race in a way that just cannot happen in practice. There is a lot we learn about ourselves when we are forced out of comfort zone and pushed beyond the limits that we have set for ourselves as safe. Today our men lost the Star meet by a score of 26-29. We ran to win the Star and through 7300 meters we had it won…but in the last 400m we couldn't hold the lead we had built, and the score flipped from 27-28 in our favor to a 26-29 defeat. We were so close. Close doesn't get you anything other than a good look on the scoreboard. But…. the competitive effort of our guys and the way they went about their business in the race today was impressive, gutsy, and indicative of the level of "want to" that the Academy expects and we as coaches demand. I walk away from the meet disappointed in the loss but very optimistic about where we can go in the next few weeks if we can line up with all of our guys and run the way we ran today. I expect our guys to perform to their potential, but it doesn't always happen. It did today. A Star Meet win comes from an absolute commitment to trying to win in how you go about daily business and a commitment to the execution of what it takes to win in the race. We have had the necessary commitment all season and today we added the execution. I am proud of our guys and their effort. We were patient with the early pace and then in the middle of the race, we moved. Pack running is something we have worked on repeatedly in training and today the guys reproduced exactly what we expected from them. We knew our course, and we knew how we needed to run it to win. We had four men that moved as a unit and for much of the race, they held the 2,3,4,5 places in the race. They drew strength from running together and they held each other accountable throughout. The end result isn't what we wanted but the attitude of our guys was very positive in the aftermath and it was refreshing to hear them talk about what they learned today and what their intentions are in the championships meets that remain on our schedule. Our guys have the confidence that if they race the way they did today, they can take things to another level. We were very good today, just not quite good enough."
Up Next
The Black Knights return to action in two weeks at the Patriot League Cross Country Championships on Friday, Oct. 31, at Lehigh.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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