Both XC Squads Place Second In Iona Meet of Champions

Friday, September 13

New Rochelle, NY

Army West Point

Iona Meet of Champions

Both XC Squads Place Second In Iona Meet of Champions

September 14, 2024 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

BRONX, N.Y. – Both Army West Point cross country teams earned second place finishes in the Iona Meet of Champions on Friday morning. Louisa Diamond took home the crown on the women's side with a time of 18:10.8.

On the women's side, Joanna Halfhill was the next best finisher with a time of 18:25.0.

The men were led by Nathan Davis with a time of 25:24.9. He placed second in the race. Coming in fourth, and second best for Army was Anthony Diaz with a time of 25:46.1. Rounding out the top 10 for the Black Knights was Maximus Haynia and Gavin Hansen in ninth and tenth place respectively.

Next up for the Black Knights is the Ted Owen Invitational on Sat. 21.

COACHES CORNER

Men:
We had hoped for some better execution today. We had a great performance from Nathan Davis '26 up front in the race but we didn't support his effort equally with our depth runners. The course is easily the most demanding course that we will run this season and I don't think we met the challenge as well as we could. Anthony Diaz '26 has been a very consistent performer for us and today was more of the same. He got himself out into the race and ran well over the last mile to create some separation from the pack that had chased him most of the race. Nathan has made some significant improvements in his fitness over the past few months, and I think he will continue to be a strong front runner for us all season. Our young guys worked hard this summer and are going to help us this year but today they were not as sharp as we had hoped. They will develop better race habits in the coming weeks.

Women:
We had some strong performances today from our front runners but our depth was not as competitive as we would have hoped. Louisa Diamond '27 got the first win of her collegiate career with a very strong performance. She was good last year, but she has taken her fitness to a new level this year and will continue to be a factor in every race we run. The course at Van Cortlandt Park is very challenging and Louisa handled the hills, the heat and the difficult terrain, with ease. She will keep getting better and better. Joanna Halfhill '25 is our team captain and she competed today with the consistency that she has shown most of her career. We have a very strong lineup but today we didn't show that strength. We looked a little rusty and our instincts were not as good or as sharp as I would have expected.