The Army West Point women’s cross country team defeated Navy in dominant fashion on Saturday morning, putting together a perfect score to capture the first star of the day in the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
CHS graduate and former Trojan Kate Merritt, a junior at West Point, toed the line against Navy in the 6K race.
Army’s Charlotte Richman was the individual winner with a blistering time of 19.49.6, which is a new personal best for the senior out of Portland, Ore. She finished 25 seconds ahead of second place. Richman’s previous best 6k time was 20:16.5 at the Patriot League Championships last season, which earned a second-place finish. Richman was also the winner of the meet last season in Annapolis.
Louisa Diamond (20:14.5), Mikayla Cheney (20:14.6), Mia Royall (20:18.7), Alma Lazo Cazares (20:19.9) and Claire Lewis (20:23.1) followed behind Richman to sweep the top six spots of the race. Merritt posted a 21:53.8, (5:53 pace), good for 20th place.
The women’s program has now won the last three meets against Navy, with this win being the most dominant over that stretch.
“When our women reported for our preseason training back in August, they reported with big goals. One of those goals was achieved today in the Star Meet out at the West Point Golf Course. Our win today was complete and the most dominant Army performance in the history of the Star Meet. We won this meet in 2024 by sweeping the top four places in the race, but the opponent scored the next five places, and our winning total was 20 points. A good solid win to be sure. In 2001, we scored 19 points and in 2003 we scored 18 points. All of those wins were clear victories. But today we set a new standard of excellence. Today, the Army women totaled 15 points in a race against Navy. To be clear, a total of 15 points indicates that the winning team swept the top five places. It is the lowest possible score in a cross-country dual meet. In the 40 years that this meet has been contested, no Army team has scored as low as that,” said Mike Smith, Director of Cross Country
