STORY COURTESY OF NAVY ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Justin Mumford continued his stellar senior season with a third-place finish on Friday at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Hosted by Lehigh University and run over the 10K Goodman Campus Cross Country Course, Navy finished fifth as a team among the 28 teams that competed. With his third-place finish, Mumford qualified for the NCAA Championship next weekend in Columbia, Mo.
Mumford's third-place finish tied Murphy Smith's performance during the 2023 season as the highest by a Navy individual since Jake Brophy ('20) finished second at the 2019 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional as a senior.
#18 Princeton and Georgetown, who was receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll, finished first and second, respectively. The Tigers recorded a team-low 45 points with the Hoyas following with 63. Villanova (84 points), Penn State (91), and Navy (100) rounded out the top five among the 28 teams that competed.
"The team put together a complete race without any failures," head coach Aaron Lanzel said after the race. "It was just not the superior performances we needed today to elevate to the top couple of teams."
The Midshipmen placed all seven of its runners in the top 35 with three runners – Mumford (3rd), Jackson Nguyen (17th), and Matt Newell (24th) – crossing the finish line in the top 25 of the meet. As a team, the Mids averaged 30:16.1 among their top five with 1:05.3 separating the top five Navy runners.
Mumford clocked a 10K time of 29:28.9 to finish third overall among the 197 runners who finished the race. He was in fifth through the first mile and moved up to third at the two-mile checkpoint. By the 5K marker, the senior had moved into first place and remained in the top spot through the 8K checkpoint. Mumford was passed by individual medalist Birhanu Harriman (29:20.6) of Georgetown and Myles Hogan (29:21.2) of Princeton over the final 2000m, but was able to secure an automatic bid as an individual.
"Justin crushed it," Lanzel said of Mumford. "He was at the front of the race from the start, while managing his effort with ease. There were still a large group of individual challengers at four miles and his preparation and focus this season left little doubt of what he could do today over the last two miles to be in the top four and guarantee a national qualification."
Nguyen, the 2025 team captain, finished 17th overall with a time of 30:16.0. Nguyen was 49th through the first mile, but methodically worked his way up into the top 20 throughout the course of the race.
Fellow senior Matt Newell was third amongst the Midshipmen runners with a 24th-place finish. He clocked a time of 30:28.6 in his final NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.
Sophomore Patrick Gandini finished just outside of the top 25, crossing the finish line with a time of 30:32.7 to come in 27th overall. Junior Max Girardet was 30th with a time of 30:34.1 to round out Navy's top five in the event.
Junior Logan Flament (30:38.5) and sophomore James Partlow (30:39.1) closed out the Mids' runners in the NCAA Regional. Flament finished 32nd overall with Partlow two spots back in 34th.
"Jackson, to finish his senior captain season, put on a notable race though, improving on his finish from last year and overcoming any questions of his abilities," added Lanzel. "Matthew improved from last year and also ran tough to the finish line. Patrick improved from last year and showed it's just a matter of time for him and our underclassmen to make the jumps to achieve future dreams. Max, Logan, and James weren't even in the mix a year ago and now they are on the precipice of being in the discussion for national bids."
Mumford will now represent the Midshipmen at the NCAA Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo. The race is set for 11:10 a.m. Live coverage on ESPNU as well as live results will be available.
"It will be exciting to head to Missouri for the NCAAs and see what Justin can do with a great head of steam."