Final Non-Division I Results // Final Division I Results // Final Open 3k Results

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Facing a crowded field packed with top competition from around the region, the Christopher Newport cross country teams excelled during the CNU Invitational and pieced together a pair of outstanding performances on Saturday afternoon at Lee Hall Mansion.

In the women's 6k, the Captains finished second among 12 Division III programs. CNU trailed only Johns Hopkins, who captured the national championship last season and entered the weekend ranked first in the country. In the men's 8k, CNU placed third behind Hopkins and CAC foe York (Pa.)

Overall, the women compiled 83 points, while Johns Hopkins took the crown with 15. York and Washington & Lee finished third and fourth, respectively. The men posted a score of 92, which trailed Johns Hopkins' 17 and York's 86. Washington & Lee finished fourth with 108 points.

"That's the best we've competed in a single day," said head coach Matthew Barreau. "It's the best I've seen both genders race on one day. As a coach, you always have to be looking for ways to improve, but after this race, my first reaction wasn't to do that because I was just so proud of how we actually ran. Obviously, when you're in a race, you're trying to beat everybody. But with York being a conference rival, Washington & Lee being a regional rival, and Johns Hopkins being one of the top Division III programs in the nation, I was particularly focused on them. And we're definitely excited about how we did competing against them."

The women were led by a trio of standouts who finished within seven seconds of each other. Emmie Schmitt paced the pack with a time of 24:09.5, which placed her 22nd in the field. Fellow freshman Briana Stewart was right on her heels in 23rd, while Lydia Cromwell came in next with a time of 24:16.7.

Just behind the lead group, senior Jessica McClelland clocked in at 24:38.3, which put her 31st overall. Julie Machamer and Allison McNulla rounded out the top performers after finishing in 36th and 42nd, respectively.

"The women got a couple of good wins against York and Washington & Lee," said Barreau. "We talked about the opportunity we had and how we didn't want to finish this race and say, 'Well, we just missed this or we could have done that.' And I think we accomplished that on both sides today. It's great when you can go into a race, have that as your goal, and accomplish it."

The men also looked strong and were led by a pair of top-20 performers. Samuel Martin paced the Captains with a 14th-place finish after crossing the line in 26:07.9. JJ LaPointe was just behind him in 16th after clocking in at 26:24.1.

"Johns Hopkins is much better than their ranking," said Barreau. "Their men's team is definitely better than 30th in the nation. And, for three miles, Sam and JJ were hanging in with the main Hopkins pack. They were running right with them."

In addition to the team's top two runners, Christopher Newport had four other top-50 efforts. Aaron Zook paced the second group with a time of 26:46.3, while Bradley Turner was just two seconds behind in 30th. Billy Rabil and Daniel Richard were also in the top-50, while Charlie Pruitt just missed out with a 57th place effort.

"The only thing that was unfortunate for us today was Andrew Benfer had to pull out of the race, and he's led us in the last two competitions," said Barreau. "On one hand, it was unfortunate, because you want to see how you'd do with everyone performing. But on the other hand, the other seven guys had to step up, and we were still only six points away from York. It was encouraging to see everyone else rise to the challenge, because you never know when something like that is going to happen."

The CNU Invitational was the final tune-up for the Captains entering the championship season. Following team camp this week, Christopher Newport will look forward to its first-ever CAC Championship Meet at Salisbury on November 2. The Regional Championship will take place at Lee Hall Mansion on November 16.

"We definitely 'Won the day' today," said Barreau. "Now we're excited to take the positives from today, and we're going to look at how we can get to the next level. I think we've been gaining momentum with every race. We've really been putting everything together - not in a cliché way, but in a literal way. I'm really excited to see what's going to happen at our championship season."

---CNU---