Complete Results

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Guided by a well-balanced effort, which featured six top-12 finishers for both the men and women, the Christopher Newport cross country teams swept the Captain Chris Invitational on Saturday afternoon at Lee Hall Mansion.

During the competition, the men compiled 27 points, highlighted by a pair of top-three performances by Andrew Benfer and Samuel Martin. The women were just as strong, compiling a score of 29, including a third-place effort by sophomore Lydia Cromwell.

On the men's side, Benfer posted the top time on the team as he completed the 8k in 26:48.6, which was just a touch behind the first-place finisher. Trailing the freshman by 10 seconds, Martin came in third overall, while JJ LaPointe and Bradley Turner placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Billy Rabil also collected a top-10 effort after finishing ninth with a time of 27:34.1

"Even though the men's race didn't develop as we drew it up, there were plenty of positives we can take away," said head coach Matthew Barreau. "One of the most exciting things we learned about our team today came BECAUSE of the mistake we made in not staying together. What was really encouraging to see was that when our race plan was abandoned, our group responded with a "plan B" almost immediately and without prompting. We have been adamant this year about running as a group, and even though we didn't have a nice pack of seven, our team formed into groups that ran well together and really resulted in a couple great performances today."

Along with the top-10 finishers, Daniel Richard crossed the line in 12th after clocking in at 27:52.0. Aaron Zook and Charlie Pruitt also locked down top-15 efforts after finishing in 14th and 15th.

"It is really great to see things develop naturally now; it shows tremendous progress and continues to show we are on the right course," said Barreau. "They should gain a lot of confidence after today's performance."

On the women's side, four Captains were near the front of the pack during the 5k, including Cromwell who came in third with a time of 19:56.3. Just behind the second-year speedster, Jessica McClelland clocked in at 20:01.5, which placed her fourth in the field. Freshmen Emmie Schmitt and Briana Stewart were at the front as well, coming in fifth and sixth, respectively.

"Our women raced pretty well, but we didn't totally execute the race plan as drawn up, and it held us back a bit today," said Barreau. "We wanted a group of five together through two miles and that didn't quite happen. But the four girls up front stayed composed and were ready to go when it came time to release and race. We were in great position at two miles with those four, and Jess had a lot to do with that today; she worked really hard those first two miles to keep the group together."

Similar to the men, the women had a host of finishers who came in just behind the front runners. Julie Machamer and Deanna Corts finished 11th and 12th, while Graciela Slyer completed the course in 15th with a time of 21:21.0.

"Our top five averaged five seconds faster than three weeks ago on this course, and today the course was in much worse condition after a week of rain and plenty of standing water," said Barreau. "We continue to have encouraging progress, but we have to keep working harder to execute at our best every chance we get. We don't want to keep talking about the progress we are making 'even with the mistakes' we make. We want to talk about how we raced to our capabilities, because our capabilities are pretty high with this group. They're so close to realizing it, too."

Christopher Newport will remain at home next week for the CNU Invitational. That competition will serve as the final warm-up before the Capital Athletic Conference Championships on November 2.

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