Navy nearly sweeps top 5 spots against M. X-C

The Penn men's cross country team was soundly beaten on Saturday in its first tri-meet of the season. Navy dominated visiting Columbia and Penn, taking seven out of the top 10 spots. Scoring just 19 points (cross country teams aim to score the fewest points, with a score of 15 being a shutout) the Midshipmen achieved a near sweep of Penn runners, with only one Quaker runner finishing among Navy's lead pack. The Quakers (0-2) were led by team captain Matt Wilkinson, who finished second overall with a time of 25 minutes, 36 seconds. But as a whole, the team showed only a slight improvement in their pack running strategy. Although Penn aimed to finish together, a sizable 64 seconds separated Wilkinson from Penn's fifth-place runner Aaron McCommons. Looking to match the Midshipmen's early speed, the Quakers main pack of runners ran out to a solid two-mile split time of 10:20. After the strong start, however, the Penn runners were unable to match the speed and depth of Navy's squad, tiring over the final three miles. Left behind by the lead pack, the Quakers own group of racers splintered and could not complete their pre-race goal of finishing tightly bunched together. The battle between Columbia and Penn for second place was closer, but the Lions prevailed with a relatively easy 21-34 victory. A bright spot for the Quakers continues to be the strong showing of the freshmen racers. In Saturday's race, two freshmen -- Sean Macmillan and Joe Campagna -- scored for the team by placing among the top five Penn finishers. Macmillan improved his sixth-place performance from a week ago to finish third for Penn this past week. The Quakers hope to rebound from their defeat on Saturday, when they participate in the Iona Invitational. With a field approaching 20 schools, it should provide Penn with an opportunity to compete with many of the stronger cross country programs in the area.

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