Army West Point Athletics
Friday, September 1
Orono, ME
TBA
Army West Point
at
University of Maine Dual
Men's XC Wins 2023 Maine Invitational
September 01, 2023 | Men's Cross Country
ORONO, Maine – The Army West Point men's cross country team came home with a win in the Maine Black Bear Cross Country Invitational on Friday night in Orono, Maine.
"Our men took control of the race early today and maintained a good competitive presence throughout the entire race," Head Coach Mike Smith said. " We had some veterans that were itching to race so we let them go out there and they raced well. Erick and Mitchell have shown strong fitness in practice and that was evident in the race. As well as those two ran, it was our sophomore guys that impressed me the most. Mark and Andrew did a nice job of training this summer and it showed in their performance today. They will play a significant role in the success of this team moving forward so it was nice to see them run with confidence and expectation today. Our plebes have only been running for a few weeks, so they were an unknown quantity out there. I thought they did a nice job of getting themselves into the race and some managed to hang on and run pretty well. They will get over the shock of the longer race pretty soon and then they will be able to move forward and compete for 8k as opposed to racing for 5k and surviving for the next 3k. Of all the plebes, Adam furman did the best job of managing the race and the expectations. I was proud of his effort and his execution. All in all we did a nice job today and there are a lot of positive takeaways as we move forward."
Erick Lara led the way for the Black Knights by coming in second place with a time of 24:36.0.
"The race felt really controlled from the start." Lara said. "I didn't want to take it out too quickly or up the pace in the middle. Several of our younger guys like Andrew Littlehales and Marc Baroncini showed guts today, and I'm excited to see what else they can do as the season progresses."
Baroncini, Mitchell Burr, Littlehales, and Adam Furman all placed in the top-10 of the race.
Army won with a score of 26, with New Hampshire and Maine tied for second at 56, and Bryant rounded out the event with 105.
Full results can be found here.
NEXT UP
The Black Knights head to New Rochelle, N.Y. for the Iona Meet of Champions on Sept. 15.
"Our men took control of the race early today and maintained a good competitive presence throughout the entire race," Head Coach Mike Smith said. " We had some veterans that were itching to race so we let them go out there and they raced well. Erick and Mitchell have shown strong fitness in practice and that was evident in the race. As well as those two ran, it was our sophomore guys that impressed me the most. Mark and Andrew did a nice job of training this summer and it showed in their performance today. They will play a significant role in the success of this team moving forward so it was nice to see them run with confidence and expectation today. Our plebes have only been running for a few weeks, so they were an unknown quantity out there. I thought they did a nice job of getting themselves into the race and some managed to hang on and run pretty well. They will get over the shock of the longer race pretty soon and then they will be able to move forward and compete for 8k as opposed to racing for 5k and surviving for the next 3k. Of all the plebes, Adam furman did the best job of managing the race and the expectations. I was proud of his effort and his execution. All in all we did a nice job today and there are a lot of positive takeaways as we move forward."
Erick Lara led the way for the Black Knights by coming in second place with a time of 24:36.0.
"The race felt really controlled from the start." Lara said. "I didn't want to take it out too quickly or up the pace in the middle. Several of our younger guys like Andrew Littlehales and Marc Baroncini showed guts today, and I'm excited to see what else they can do as the season progresses."
Baroncini, Mitchell Burr, Littlehales, and Adam Furman all placed in the top-10 of the race.
Army won with a score of 26, with New Hampshire and Maine tied for second at 56, and Bryant rounded out the event with 105.
Full results can be found here.
NEXT UP
The Black Knights head to New Rochelle, N.Y. for the Iona Meet of Champions on Sept. 15.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
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