Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Paul Short Invitational
Women's Corss Country Post Best-Ever Paul Short Finish, Men Turn in Best Run Since 2019 Amid Brutal Heat
October 02, 2026 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Army West Point's cross country programs delivered a pair of statement performances at the Paul Short Run, presented by ASICS, on Friday at Lehigh's Goodman Campus Cross Country Course — with the women's team posting the best finish in program history at the meet and the men turning in their strongest showing in six years, both coming in oppressive heat that ultimately forced meet officials to cancel the final six races of the day.
Twenty-six women and 27 men across the field failed to finish their respective races as temperatures soared, with runners up and down the course forced to carefully manage their effort or risk a painful final mile. Army's response in both races was to attack.
The women's team, racing in the final contested event of the day at 11:45 a.m., finished fifth out of 37 teams in the Women's College Gold 6K — the best showing in program history at Paul Short. The Black Knights sat seventh at the mile before systematically working their way forward, climbing to sixth by three miles and passing 10 more runners in the final 1,200 meters to close fifth overall. The group never ceded ground over the final five kilometers of the race.
Senior Mikayla Cheney, fresh off a Service Academy record in the 1500 meters this past spring, led Army as its top finisher in 8th place overall (20:45.0), continuing the translation of her track speed to the grass. Senior Louisa Diamond, Army's school record holder in the 10,000 meters, ran patiently before attacking from the mile to the two-mile mark to finish 35th (21:28.7) as the Black Knights' No. 2.
Junior Leah Richardson put together the most dramatic individual performance of the day, passing an estimated 92 runners between the mile mark and the finish line to come home 44th (21:34.9) as Army's No. 3. "At the mile mark I felt like I had way more in me than I was showing and there were way too many people in front of me," Richardson said. "I just wanted to hunt people down until I could find my teammates. Digging into my competitive instincts I was able to make up a lot of ground, and every time I saw one of my girls it gave me a new surge and I was able to continue to tick people off. Finding the fun in racing and doing it for the teammates who push me every day is what allowed me to race the way I did today."
Junior Mia Royall, who sits third on Army's all-time list in the 1500 meters, recovered after giving up ground between the mile and two-mile marks, latching back onto Richardson and closing hard to finish 47th (21:36.3) in her best-ever showing at the meet. Senior Abigail Garner ran the best 6K of her career to round out Army's scoring five in 59th (21:42.8), the product of a preseason push to train with the Black Knights' top group.
Juniors Alma Lazo Cazares (85th, 21:58.5) and Alexandra Himebauch (115th, 22:18.4) served as Army's displacers, with junior Alexandra Volkart (132nd, 22:28.7), junior Chloe Esponda (148th, 22:38.3) and senior Katherine Merritt (155th, 22:40.5) rounding out the Black Knights' entries.
The 193-point effort was good enough to beat every Patriot League opponent in the field — Bucknell, Lehigh, Colgate and Navy — along with every Big Ten program present (Ohio State, Rutgers and Maryland) and ACC foe Pittsburgh. Army also topped LSU, a team that qualified for last year's NCAA Championships, by 32 points, out-scoring the Tigers' depth beyond their front three.
In the Men's College Gold 8K, Army finished seventh out of 35 teams with 243 points — the program's best finish at the meet since also taking seventh in 2019. The Black Knights, who have run this meet every year since 2014, dealt with what their coaching staff called the most challenging conditions in that span, inserting themselves near the front of the race from the start and attacking throughout.
Senior captain Maximus Haynia set the pace for Army, running alongside junior Adam Furman through two miles before coming home 23rd overall (24:34.6) in the best race of his career. Junior Ryan Rheam turned in the standout individual performance of the day for the Black Knights, passing an estimated 75 runners from the mile mark to the finish to place 45th (24:55.2) as Army's No. 2 — the best race of his career and a continuation of the consistency he's shown as a junior.
Furman was not far behind in 54th (25:02.4) as Army's No. 3, while freshman Issaiah McCorvey continued his rapid development with a 59th-place finish (25:06.9) as the Black Knights' No. 4. Junior Jess Joe Augustine rounded out Army's scoring five in 69th (25:17.2), cracking the program's top five in a major meet for the first time after measuring his early effort and then attacking, passing an estimated 51 runners from two miles to the finish.
Sophomore Eli Ahten (112th, 25:39.6) and junior Parker Harris (122nd, 25:44.7) served as Army's displacers, with juniors Christian Bachmann (132nd, 25:49.2) and Matthew Gorman (186th, 26:14.6) completing the Black Knights' entries. Wingate won the men's race with 58 points.
THE NUMBERS
Men's College Gold 8K (35 teams)
- Wingate — 58
- Penn State — 129
- Pittsburgh — 151
- Navy — 193
- Penn — 222
- Stony Brook — 227
- Army West Point — 243
Women's College Gold 6K (37 teams)
- Liberty — 115
- Penn — 144 (tie)
- Yale — 144 (tie)
- UMass Amherst — 148
- Army West Point — 193
ARMY WEST POINT FINISHERS
Men's College Gold 8K:
23. Maximus Haynia, Sr. — 24:34.6
45. Ryan Rheam, Jr. — 24:55.2
54. Adam Furman, Sr. — 25:02.4
59. Issaiah McCorvey, Fr. — 25:06.9
69. Jess Joe Augustine, Jr. — 25:17.2
112. Eli Ahten, So. — 25:39.6
122. Parker Harris, Jr. — 25:44.7
132. Christian Bachmann, Jr. — 25:49.2
186. Matthew Gorman, Jr. — 26:14.6
Women's College Gold 6K:
8. Mikayla Cheney, Sr. — 20:45.0
35. Louisa Diamond, Sr. — 21:28.7
44. Leah Richardson, Jr. — 21:34.9
47. Mia Royall, Jr. — 21:36.3
59. Abigail Garner, Sr. — 21:42.8
85. Alma Lazo Cazares, Jr. — 21:58.5
115. Alexandra Himebauch, Fr. — 22:18.4
132. Alexandra Volkart, Jr. — 22:28.7
148. Chloe Esponda, Jr. — 22:38.3
155. Katherine Merritt, Sr. — 22:40.5
Coach's Corner - Head Coach Mike Smith
Men:
I was happy with our men's team performance today. We have a good mix of experience and talent and today was a great test of our ability to manage challenging conditions and our commitment to race to our potential. Our seventh-place finish was our best since our seventh place finish in 2019. We did a lot of things right today. We inserted ourselves into the front of the race. We attacked throughout the race and we finished well. We have come to this meet every year since I arrived here in 2014 and the conditions today were the most challenging in those thirteen years. The heat took its toll on the runners. Twenty-seven men did not finish the race today. You had to monitor your exertion or face a difficult realization toward the end. Our guys did an exceptional job of managing the variables our there. We expected to compete well. We knew that we could compete with the thirty-five teams on the starting line today and we felt like we were one of the better teams if we lined up and executed. We did just that. Max Haynia '27 is our team captain, and he led from the front today. I saw him at two miles in the lead pack followed closely by Adam Furman '27. Those two guys have been our leaders in training all season and they were out there today setting the pace for the other guys. Max had the best race of his career at this meet with his twenty third place finish. I think in the end he was a little disappointed that he didn't distribute his effort a little better, but he will be better for it later in the season. He was in the hunt the entire race and that will build confidence for him in future races. Ryan Rheam '28 had the best race of his career out here today. He passed seventy-five guys from the mile to the finish. Extraordinary. Ryan is very talented, that has been evident since he arrived here several years ago. But now in his third year, he is melding his talent, competitive mindset and his preparation. He has become a much more mature and capable distance runner. He ran as our number two today and is showing the kind of consistency that will propel to him to bigger and better in the championship meets that are now looming. He is a threat in every race on our schedule. Issaiah McCorvey '30 is developing into exactly the kind of runner that we knew he could be. He is talented, fearless and possesses a great work ethic. It is a lethal (for his opponents) combination that we are lucky to have on our side. He is showing great consistency in training and is now demonstrating that consistency in competition. He finished as our number four today and I expect that he will continue to improve as we move forward. Jess Jo Augustine '28 came of age today. Jess made a statement last spring in the steeplechase with his runner-up finish at the Patriot League Outdoor meet. I saw that moment as a big breakthrough for Jess and today he did it again. Today was the first time in a major meet that he finished in our top five. He measured his effort early and then went on the attack. He caught and passed fifty-one guys from the two mile to the finish line. It was impressive. Our guys were good today. We have higher expectations for sure, but we showed some great poise and determination today and we can build off of this as we look to the championship season.
Women:
It was hot out there today. So hot that conditions were deemed too dangerous to continue with the meet program and the final 6 races of the day were cancelled. We were entered in the women's gold race at 1145 which proved to be the last race that was contested. Twenty six women from other teams were unable to complete the race today and the final 100m of the finishing stretch was a mix of strong racers sprinting to the finish line and others that were staggering and crawling just to get to the line. It was a difficult day to run a cross-country race and you had to measure your effort or pay a steep price in the end. Despite all of the challenges today, our women had the best Army team finish ever (5th) at the Paul Short cross-country meet. We have a veteran team. We have 5 firsties and 4 cows in our top 10 and those women are experienced competitors. They knew what to expect from the competition in this meet, they knew how to handle the conditions and they knew what they wanted to accomplish. We talked about getting out near the front of the race early and then attacking late in the race. With a field size of 37 teams and close to 400 runners it can be difficult to navigate through the human traffic, so our women needed to be aggressive but in control. The running lanes were packed with bodies early, but we got out in front of the congestion and then maneuvered well from the mile mark to the two mile mark. We were in 7th place at the mile and then we started a very deliberate attack. Each of our women started passing other runners so that by the three-mile mark we had moved up to 6th place and in the last 1200 meters we passed 10 women to finish fifth overall. At no point in the race did our team go backward. It was just a great job of race execution. There are some things we can and need to do better in the future if we want to reach our goals but from an execution standpoint, I have nothing but good things to say about this group. What I was most impressed with today from a team standpoint was who we beat. It starts with Pittsburgh from the ACC and LSU from the SEC. LSU was 23rd at the NCAA meet a year ago and they have the talent up front in their top 3 women to make the NCAA meet again. We couldn't match their front runners, but our collective strength was in our depth. They put three runners in front of our number one, but we claimed the next five spots in front of their fifth runner and ended up beating them by 32 points. We beat all the Patriot League teams in the meet to include Bucknell, Lehigh, Colgate and Navy. We beat all the Big 10 teams in the meet to include Ohio state, Rutgers and Maryland. It was a great team effort from our women. Individually, there were some significant performances that drove the team outcome today. Leah Richardson '27 was our number three today and executed an excellent attacking race plan. Here is what she had to say about her race,
"At the mile mark I felt like I had way more in me than I was showing and there were way too many people in front of me. I just wanted to hunt people down until I could find my teammates. Digging into my competitive instincts I was able to make up a lot of ground and every time I saw one of my girls it gave me a new surge and I was able to continue to tick people off. Finding the fun in racing and doing it for the teammates who push me everyday is what allowed me to race the way I did today"
Leah established herself as one of our varsity runners as a sophomore and she has played a major role in our recent team success. Today, she was steady and smart and showed great command of the attacking strategy. She passed ninety-two women from the mile mark to the finish: fifty-one women from the mile to the two mile, then thirty more women from two mile to the three mile and eleven more women from the three mile to the finish line. I have never seen anything quite like it in such a competitive race. It literally looked like she was in the fast lane and everyone else was just jogging in the slow lane…and it was like that the entire race. So impressive to see. Abigail garner '27 had the best race of her career in the heat today and was our number five. It was the best time she has ever run for 6k cross country race and really the most competitive race she has ever run. We saw a big change in her competitive mindset earlier this fall in our pre-season practices. We challenged her to train at a higher level and insert herself with the top group of women in training. She embraced that role and is now racing with a new level of confidence that matches what we have seen in practice. It has been great to watch her grow into a contributing role. Mia Royall '28 inserted herself right into the front of the race early, established position and then gave up some places from the mile to the two mile. She recovered when Leah caught her and then ran the rest of the way with Leah to finish as our number four. Mia is number three on the Army all-time list in the 1500 meters; she is a great talent. When she is on her game she can bring lethal speed to any part of the race. Today she turned on the jets in the final straight and passed ten women to help drive the team total down. It was her best ever finish at this meet. Louisa Diamond '27 finished as our number two today. She has been a familiar figure in our top five since her plebe year. She is always in the hunt in these big races. She is our school record holder in the 10,000 meters and has great endurance and overall ability. She was somewhat conservative early today and then started attacking. She passed thirty women from the one mile to the two mile and then battled with the women around her from that point all the way to the finish line. It was a solid performance from her that will propel her forward to the championship meets. Mikayla Cheney '27 was our top runner today. I was not surprised. She is coming off of a spring track season that saw her set a Service Academy record in the 1500 meters at 4:11.25. She is a budding star on the national level on the track and has resolved to match that level of success on the grass. Today was a big step forward toward that end. Mikayla is talented and works very hard, but her biggest strength is her ability to execute in competition. She has very good recognition of her sensory data in-race. She can measure effort, shift gears, control the pace, and attack on command. It is a rare skill set that is difficult to master; she has great command in competition and our team feeds off of her example. We ran well today and I expect that we will build from this race and take what we learned about ourselves into the championship meets that are coming in the next month. We have more work to do.
About Army West Point Cross Country
The Army West Point cross country programs compete in the Patriot League. For more information, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_TrackXC on Instagram and X.
Media Contact
Contact Toni Bianco, Army West Point Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, for all media inquiries.
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