Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Navy
Men’s Cross Country Falls at Star Meet Against Navy
October 15, 2022 | Men's Cross Country
| MEET 4 | |
|---|---|
| SCORE | Army West Point 35, Navy 22 |
| DISTANCE | 4.9 Miles |
| LOCATION | USNA Cross Country Course - Annapolis, MD. |
ANNAPOLIS, MD. - Army West Point men's cross country was defeated by Navy in the annual star meet, 35-22. Erick Lara led the Black Knights with a third-place showing and time of 24:17.9.
Lara has ran well with the smaller fields this season, also pacing the Black Knights in its head-to-head meet against Maine. Fresh off his Patriot League Runner of the Week performance at the Paul Short Invite, Garrett Gough had another quality performance with a fifth-place finish (23:21.5).
Team captain Matthew Porter came in just behind Gough in sixth place (24:26.7), but Navy was able to place the next three runners 7-9 to ensure the scoring victory. Luke Lusskin and Anthony Diaz finished within a second of each other, to take 10th and 11th place respectively. Plebe Marc Baroncini posted a time of 25:15.4 (15th place) while Isaac Morris rounded out the scoring group for the Black Knights with a 17th-place showing (25:32.3).
Army Top 7
3. Erick Lara – 24:17.9
5. Garrett Gough – 24:21.5
6. Matthew Porter – 24:26.7
10. Luke Lusskin – 24:49.7
11. Anthony Diaz – 24:50.5
15. Marc Baroncini – 25:15.4
17. Isaac Morris – 25:32.3
A full list of results for this meet can be found HERE.
Coach's Corner
"We did some things well today and some of the guys really stepped up but it wasn't enough to win. Garrett Gough and Erick Lara gave us a chance to win with the incredible effort that they both put forth out there. There was a lot of back in forth with the front group with Garrett and Erick jockeying for the lead most of the first 3 miles of the race. Eventually there was a split with 1200 meters to go and Garrett moved to the lead only to relinquish it in the final straight when he ran out of gas. He surged a little too hard, too early and paid the price at the finish line. I can't fault him for his effort. He just needs to have a better sense of how he is feeling and time his finishing kick better. I thought Erick Lara was great today. He went to the front from the gun and stayed there the entire race. He has never led our team the way he did today and the grit and determination that he displayed should be an inspiration to the other guys. Matt Porter also put together a solid effort today. He was in the top group for the first two miles, got separated and then fought all the way back. The last half of the race is pretty challenging, and he used that to his advantage to get up to 6th. We needed to have our depth runners up further in the race to have a shot to win but we just couldn't get there. If we can get some better execution from the rest of the team to go with the top 3 guys, we will have a shot at a better outcome in 2 weeks at the conference championship." - Director of Track & Field Mike Smith
Up Next
Army will prepare for the Patriot League Championships on Saturday, October 29th hosted by Bucknell University.
For complete coverage of Army West Point cross country and track and field, follow the Black Knights on Twitter (ArmyWP_TrackXC) and Instagram (goarmytrack) and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.
Players Mentioned
