Women's Results // Men's Results

SALISBURY, Md. -- Guided by four top-10 performers, the Christopher Newport women's cross country team captured the program's first-ever Capital Athletic Conference championship, while the men's team finished second overall during the title meet hosted by Salisbury at Winter Place Park on Saturday afternoon.

In an incredible performance by the Captains, the women placed five runners in the top-11 to notch a score of 31, which out-paced York by 10. Lydia Cromwell led the way with a third-place finish, while Briana Stewart was close behind in fourth. With that effort, Stewart was the meet's top freshman performer and secured the CAC Rookie of the Year honor.

"Our women ran a great race. I couldn't be more proud of how they performed," said head coach Matthew Barreau. "They looked really strong at the beginning of the race, and they just got stronger and stronger from there. Every challenge I presented to them, they met. Every person I asked them to get, they got. They ran exactly according to plan. They earned that title. They ran well, and I'm very, very proud of what they did."

The men placed three runners in the top-10, including Samuel Martin, who came in second overall. JJ LaPointe also was the top freshman finisher on the men's side and was honored as the CAC Rookie of the Year after finishing 10th. Overall, the Captains collected 50 points, which trailed only York's score of 33.

"The men were just in a war," said Barreau. "We faced some good teams this year, especially up at Williams, but I think this was the first time we were really in a battle. Today was the first taste of that for us. And York ran great. I don't think we ran badly. I think we actually ran pretty well. Our guys definitely wanted to win, and there's no way to take the sting out of that. But when you get beat by a team that runs as well as York ran today, there's no shame in that. I think we've responded very well to every challenge we've faced this year, and now our next challenge is rebounding from this."

On the women's side, Cromwell paced the Captains with a time of 22:35.0 over the 6k course, while Stewart crossed the line just four seconds later. Also earning first-team All-Conference honors for their efforts on Saturday, Emmie Schmitt and Jessica McClelland came in sixth and seventh, respectively. Schmitt clocked in at 22:48.5 and McClelland completed the event in 22:52.3.

"Briana really enjoyed the course, and about a mile in, she stuck her nose out there and took a chance," said Barreau. "We talked as a team about taking chances and testing ourselves, and she did that. I think that helped push our team to do the same thing. It pulled Lydia along, and Emmie was right in tow. When you have two freshmen and a sophomore stick their noses out there like that in a race, that's really tremendous."

Along with the top-10 competitors, Alexa Tabackman placed 11th in 23:15.9. Allison McNulla and Deanna Corts came in 17th and 18th, respectively, while Logan Harrington rounded out the top-20 with a time of 23:46.1.

"It was a really good job by Alexa," said Barreau. "She's seen limited action this year, but she's remained confident and really stepped up in a big way today. And Jess closed exceptionally well. I think she caught about six people over the last three-quarters of a mile. That was an incredibly impressive close, and when you're in a 10-point battle, obviously every person matters. As the lone senior on the team, it's great to see her contribute like that."

With those performances, five women joined CNU's sub-24-minute club, while Schmitt and McClelland had already entered the exclusive group earlier in the year. Only 20 Captains in history have reached that benchmark.

For the men, Martin was one of only two runners in the field to crack the 26-minute mark after coming across in 25:52.8, which puts him 15th on the program's all-time 8k list. Joining Martin at the front of the field were Aaron Zook and LaPointe, who came in ninth and 10th, respectively. Zook crossed in 26:22.4, while LaPointe was just two seconds behind.

"Sam got second place, and that was a huge turnaround for him from last year," said Barreau. "It was a really good race today by him. I'm encouraged by how well he did today. Overall, I'm proud of how hard we all battled. We never laid down. Again, it's never easy not winning. But the team did well today."

While LaPointe paced the freshman contingent on Saturday, Christopher Newport received several other top-flight efforts from its first-year standouts. Billy Rabil was the second freshman to cross the line and the 12th runner overall after finishing up in 26:26.9. Andrew Benfer was next in 17th place, while junior Bradley Turner completed the event in 24th with a time of 26:59.3.

"I think our guys were eager to go for the win, and we were a little too eager early on," said Barreau. "JJ made a move about a mile in and pulled Sam and Tim Hartung, the three-time defending CAC Champion, with him. It was a bold move for a freshman. It's not one I'm mad at, but we can definitely learn from it. I've always told the team that I want them to take chances, and that was a chance. I'm happy he took it, and I think we'll be a much stronger team when we learn from things like that."

Overall, seven members of the team posted 8k bests with six finishing under the 27-minute bar and five more runners recording sub-28 times.

Christopher Newport will return to action in two weeks when CNU hosts the NCAA Regionals at Lee Hall Mansion on November 16.

"I told everyone that we're not done yet," said Barreau. "We won the conference title on the women's side and just missed on the men's. But we're not done yet. We're going to come back tomorrow and immediately get back to work. This was just another day for us. It just gave us another day to check where we're at and continue to move forward. We have 13 days to get ourselves better. We keep getting more and more positive feedback about where we're at and where we're headed as we try to earn that national berth."

---CNU---