Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Jasper Invitational
Cross Country Men and Women Sweep Jasper Invitational
September 20, 2026 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — Army West Point's men's and women's cross country teams both won team titles at the Jasper Fall XC Invitational, held September 19 at the Blue Sky Sports Complex in Middletown, N.Y. The men's squad turned in a perfect score, taking the top five spots outright, while the women's team ran away with the title behind a similarly dominant front pack.
Men's 8000 Meters
Army posted a dominant 15-point sweep, claiming 1st through 5th overall out of a 12-team, 140-plus runner field. Junior Ryan Rheam led the charge, winning the men's 8k in 24:53.26, with senior Adam Furman right on his heels in second (24:53.96). Senior Maximus Haynia (3rd, 24:54.53), freshman Issaiah McCorvey (4th, 25:00.12), and senior Gavin Hansen (5th, 25:01.95) rounded out a front five that finished within nine seconds of one another. Fordham was the runner-up team with 92 points, followed by Siena (106), Rider (118), and Quinnipiac (144).
Women's 6000 Meters
The Army women were equally commanding, scoring 42 points to win comfortably over Quinnipiac (60), Marist (113), Rider (124), and Temple (146) in a 12-team field. Senior Mikayla Cheney won the women's 6k individual title in 21:10.54, with senior Louisa Diamond taking 3rd (21:27.90), junior Mia Royall 7th (21:48.36), senior Abigail Garner 11th (21:55.60), and senior Leah Richardson 20th (22:16.32) completing the scoring five.
Coaches Corner – Director of cross country Mike Smith
Men
Our men have trained at a high level all pre-season. What I mean by that is that they have been intentional in their preparation for the season and they have been consistent. They have run a lot of miles at the right effort level and they have taken care of themselves. And judging by the outcome today, the work that they got in this summer and early fall, has been exceptional. It is easy to go after it pretty hard in the summer and feel the need to hammer the miles. That sometimes happens with younger runners and they struggle to hold up under the stress and loading of the training grind. We have the most veteran team that I have had since the Ben Petrella '20 led team of 2019. We are mature, fit, experienced and determined. The meet today was our first varsity competition of the year. I had never been out to the Blue Sky sports complex so there were a lot of unkowns for us coming into this race. This was a new course for us and I think it was the first time that this version of the course had ever been run. The terrain was challenging with a lot of rolling hills and uneven footing. There are not very many courses in the local area that are all grass with wide running lanes that can accommodate a large field of runners. It is important for me that we compete on difficult terrain so that we can be ready for whatever course challenges we have to face in any given year. We got that challenge today. Every race presents a test of some kind and the test today came from solid competition and a demanding course. It was a good experience for our men. We never really know what we are going to get from a new team with new leaders and new underclassmen. Our only data point up to today for the varsity runners was their training results. Competition provides a lot more feedback so today was a good reveal of our potential. I thought we would run well and I was confident that we could win. But I really was surprised that we took the top 5 spots. Our guys ran exceptionally well. They did exactly what I asked them to do. I don't recall a time that our men have run as complete a race as they did today. We commanded the race from the gun and had our way with the opposition. In the first half of the race we held 5 of the top 8 spots but by the 4k mark, we stood alone in the top 5. I was impressed by how our guys shed the opposition so easily. I expected that from Max Haynia '27, Adam Furman '27 and Gavin Hansen '27. Those three guys have been varsity runners since they were yuks. They know how to train and how to race. I expected them to run well. Ryan Rheam '28 has never really connected the dots in competition. He has shown great talent since his arrival but has struggled to flip the competitive switch…until today. He got his first collegiate win today and did it in impressive fashion. His training has been consistent all fall and he matched that training to his race today. Really happy to see him run with such command. Issaiah McCorvey '30, showed his potential again today. He has run two collegiate races in his young career and has yet to be defeated by someone from another team. Not bad for a plebe. He is a gifted runner but that gift is overshadowed by his grit. He doesn't back down from challenges and today he stuck himself right in the middle of our pack and stayed there for the majority of the race claiming fourth overall. He showed great effort out there today. We aren't a finished product, and we haven't tackled the big challenges yet but today was a big step forward for this team.
Women
I thought we ran very well today. I had never been out to the Blue Sky sports complex so there were a lot of unkowns for us coming into this race. This was a new course for us and I think it was the first time that this version of the course had ever been run. The terrain was challenging with a lot of rolling hills and uneven footing. There are not very many courses in the local area that are all grass with wide running lanes that can accommodate a large field of runners. It is important for me that we compete on difficult terrain so that we can be ready for whatever course challenges we have to face in any given year. Every race presents a test of some kind and the test today came from solid competition and a demanding course. It was a good experience for our teams. We never really know what we are going to get from a new team with new leaders and new underclassmen. Our only data point up to today for the varsity runners was their training results. Competition provides a lot more feedback so today was a good reveal of our potential. I think we have a really good team and that was confirmed today. I knew what to expect from our top returners and by and large they ran to their potential. But we got some great performances from some first-time contributors and that is really what I was most pleased with today. We have to develop the talent that we have and while some of that talent performs at a high level right away, it is more often the case that we are patiently working with these young men and women to bring them along at their own pace. Abigail Garner '27 has never really been able to contribute in cross country. She has made a bunch of our top 12 rosters but never been a factor in the top 5, until today. I am not surprised by how well she ran. We have seen strong work from her in the summer pre-season training and since the start of the academic year. She took a big step forward in her competitive mindset today and that propelled her to the 4th spot on our team and 11th overall. Really happy for her. Behind her, Leah Richardson '27 gave us a solid performance. Leah is a great racer, she knows how to bring competitive effort throughout the entire race. We saw her move up consistently in the race and that ended up with her finishing as our number 5. She will get better and better as she gets races under her belt. Chloe Esponda '28 had a nice breakthrough finishing as our number 6 today. She didn't make the cross-country varsity squad last year but had a nice breakthrough on the track and carried that momentum into her summer training. All the hard work in the pre-season paid off today and she had a significant personal best and overall great competitive effort. I saw her moving up throughout the race. She thrives on competitive environments so I would expect that could continue to bring that energy each time we put her out there. Alex Himebauch '30 ran as our number 7 in her first ever 6km race. She showed her competitive instincts in the Maine dual meet a few weeks ago so today I was curious to see where she would fit into our team and #7 on this team is a pretty good starting point. We took command of the race early and then controlled everything from there. We didn't dominate the field of runners but we were never threatened and our veteran runners ran with great poise and control. Mikayla Cheney '27 won the race by attacking throughout. She is coming off of a dominant outdoor track season and today she took a big step forward in her competitive mindset. She has always been relevant and competitive in cross country but her performances on the grass have never really matched her elite track performances. Today she looked like the low stick that we know she can be at the highest levels of this sport. She ran with complete poise, control and confidence. She looked dangerous. Louisa Diamond '27 has been a fixture in our top 5 since she arrived here 4 years ago and today she went right to the front and held onto a top spot throughout the race. Just after 3 km Louisa and Mikayla were together at the front of the race and then just before 4K they got separated and Louisa wasn't able to keep up with Mikayla as they went into the final kilometer. She is one of the most dependable runners that we have on this team and again today she competed at the top of the race. She will get better and better as we put her out there into more competitive situations. Behind those two stars, we got great a great run from Mia Royall '28. She did exactly what we expected that she could do. I'm proud of her effort. She put herself into the mix early and then never faltered. Last year at this time she was an unknown quantity and by the end of the season she was almost an all-region performer. This was a great opener for her and bodes well for what is to come later in the season. I thought we were the best team in the meet and that turned out be true. But I was most interested in how we would compete and how we would execute, and the women got great marks in both of those categories. It was a total team effort today and we showed that we are a solid team early in the season. Now we need to go out and replicate today's execution and competitive fire against higher levels of competition.
The Numbers
- Men: Army West Point 15, Fordham 92, Siena 106, Rider 118, Quinnipiac 144
- Women: Army West Point 42, Quinnipiac 60, Marist 113, Rider 124, Temple 146
Army West Point Finishers — Men's 8000 Meters
- Ryan Rheam (JR) — 1st, 24:53.26
- Adam Furman (SR) — 2nd, 24:53.96
- Maximus Haynia (SR) — 3rd, 24:54.53
- Issaiah McCorvey (FR) — 4th, 25:00.12
- Gavin Hansen (SR) — 5th, 25:01.95
- Jess Joe Augustine (JR) — 10th, 25:34.33
- Aiden Fitzgerald (FR) — 15th, 25:44.08
- Christian Bachmann (JR) — 18th, 25:47.90
- Matthew Gorman (JR) — 20th, 25:52.51
- Eli Ahten (SO) — 23rd, 25:55.72
- Judah Daffron (FR) — 24th, 25:55.78
- Parker Harris (JR) — 28th, 26:01.33
- Tyler Blissett (FR) — 29th, 26:01.45
- Alex Hahn-Vadstein (SO) — 31st, 26:06.75
- Jack Horrocks (SO) — 39th, 26:16.27
- Kevin Beltran (SO) — 43rd, 26:26.53
- Reid Finley (FR) — 45th, 26:28.98
- Chase Choudhry (FR) — 63rd, 26:48.88
- Ben Sydell (JR) — 71st, 27:05.15
Army West Point Finishers — Women's 6000 Meters
- Mikayla Cheney (SR) — 1st, 21:10.54
- Louisa Diamond (SR) — 3rd, 21:27.90
- Mia Royall (JR) — 7th, 21:48.36
- Abigail Garner (SR) — 11th, 21:55.60
- Leah Richardson (SR) — 20th, 22:16.32
- Chloe Esponda (JR) — 21st, 22:16.65
- Alexandra Himebauch (FR) — 24th, 22:19.96
- Katherine Merritt (SR) — 26th, 22:20.62
- Alexandra Volkart (JR) — 32nd, 22:29.85
- Lily Coy (FR) — 36th, 22:35.76
- Sienna Boulds (FR) — 37th, 22:39.84
- Katerina Prykhodko (FR) — 39th, 22:46.80
- Abigail Ringwood (SO) — 45th, 23:00.35
- Morgan Hamilton (FR) — 52nd, 23:11.70
- Hannah Phillips (FR) — 64th, 23:31.88
- Maxine Richards (FR) — 72nd, 23:40.76
- Erika Nyberg (SR) — 74th, 23:44.10
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.
tonibianco518@gmail.com | (516) 941-6310
Army West Point Athletic Association, Inc. (AWPAA)
AWPAA is an IRS code 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established to execute the United States Military Academy's intercollegiate athletics program. AWPAA is led by a board of directors that provides guidance to the director of athletics, who serves as the primary advisor to the USMA Superintedent and the USMA leadership on all NCAA operations. The AWPAA mission is to recruit, educate, train and inspire leaders of character who are committed to the Army values through an extraordinary Division I athletic experience.
