Cross Country Sweeps Maine Dual

Friday, August 30

Orono, ME

Army West Point

University of Maine Dual

Cross Country Sweeps Maine Dual

August 30, 2024 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

ORONO, ME, - The Army West Point cross country teams swept the Maine Dual on Friday afternoon.

The women won by a score of 19-40. They swept first through third place with Leah Richardson winning the whole thing with a time of 18:02.9. Abigail Garner came in second with a time of 18:32.1. Lindsey Cook was not far behind with a time of 18:32.5. The rest of the top 10 finishers were freshman Mia Ryoall in her debut in sixth, sophomore Katherine Merritt was in seventh, and freshman Natalie Spangher was in eighth.

The men won by a score of 26-29 with Gavin Hansen coming in second to lead the Black Knights with a time of 25:00.4. Adam Furman and Maximus Haynia came in fourth and fifth. The top 10 was rounded out by Tyan Rhean and Christopher Ferris in eighth and ninth.

COACHES CORNER

Men
We come up here every year to get our season started. It is a chance for our younger guys to take on the responsibility of the meet outcome. Every one of the guys that ran today was a plebe or a yearling so we had very little cross country experience. For the most part, they handled it pretty well and the team was able to squeak out a win. We don't set very high expectations this early in the season. The focus is largely on figuring out how to compete over the 5 mile distance and getting a good look at the competitive instincts of the guys. Gavin Hansen was our leader today and that was not a surprise. He put in a good summer of work and came into pre-season training very fit and ready to make a big jump. I think we saw him rise to a new level. Max and Adam also responded well to the demands of summer training and put forth a good effort today. They are two guys that we will count on as the season goes along so their results today were encouraging. Ryan Rheam had a nice run in his first collegiate race. He is a very confident runner and that showed as he got himself up into the mix late in the race. As he improves his fitness, he will be more of a factor on the varsity roster.

Women
We put a young roster out on the starting line today with an eye toward giving some of the developmental women an opportunity to take responsibility for the team result. Leah Richardson did just that. She was running a controlled race in the front group early in the race and the broke free at the mile and ran away with the win. She has had a strong pre-season training camp and her hard work in the summer showed today with the best performance of her young career. She was supported by Abigail Garner and Lindsay Cook who also broke from the front group. Lindsay was in our varsity group last year and Abby Garner is another one of our improving yearlings that benefitted from a strong summer of work. Our top plebe today was Mia Royall. She responded well to the demand of the competition and moved up well late in the race. We have a lot to look forward to as we add our developmental group to the varsity group over the next few weeks.