⚓ Anchors Aweigh #0009

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Anchors Aweigh podcast alongside Bill Wagner, the Baltimore sun media group and the Capital newspaper. Pete Medhurst, the voice of Navy athletics. Great to have you back with us for another week of. Navy athletics talk. And of course, Bill with football right away.

 there's one thing I think we have established and while part of the story is written, the rest of the story is the great Paul Hart, he would say is nowhere close to being written right now for this Navy football team. Amazingly, there are only just four games into the season. There's still plenty of action remaining with eight games.

But I think one thing that we've established, at least for this Is they are desperately trying to find a running element from the quarterback [00:01:00] position. Blake Horvath got a lot of run again, a just ill time, negative play finds him. And you feel for him, in that situation. But the fact remains is the coaches are looking for a more explosive run element.

And that's really the one thing right now that would separate a Blake Horvath and a Braxton Woodson over Ty Levitae, who continues to coming off of knee surgery when he had it. Continues to show some good things, but build the explosive running element is the one thing that has just not gotten back for him yet.

Well, we all love Ty. I mean, he's a great kid and he's done a lot for Navy football. You know, he's been a very solid quarterback and, you know, he started a lot of games, got a lot of experience and he does do a good job of operating the offense. As far as the basic fundamentals, he knows how to read defenses, check plays and get Navy into the right [00:02:00] play.

But you called it PDs, just not a running threat. And unfortunately, defenses are now gearing their game plan to not accounting for the quarterback. And it makes the entire offense more difficult to run when the defense does not respect the running ability of the quarterback. And you see what happens when.

Blake Horvath goes in the game. There are running lanes and yardage to be had from the quarterback because of the exactly how the defense has been playing, keying on other positions as opposed to accounting for the quarterback. So you do, you have to have a quarterback who is a threat that forces the defense to respect that position.

Unfortunately for Blake, he's a young quarterback and coach Newberry is. you know, stated many times. He's basically a true freshman or a redshirt freshman, if you will, because last year he [00:03:00] just served on scout team and played in J. V. Game. So he's getting his first game experience. You know, live it's, you know, learning on the fly, learning on the job, if you will, and he's making mistakes.

And we're, we're going to ask, offense coordinator, Grant Chesnut, when we get him on this week for his weekly press conference, whether that was on the center or the quarterback, but the bottom line is the failure to secure, the snap on a fourth down play, which was blocked perfectly. Navy was down a touchdown there.

At that point in the game, they're driving the ball and they go for it on fourth and one deep in South Florida territory. And instead of being a first down, it's a fumble that goes the other way. Touchdown South Florida, just incredibly deflating, really game deciding turn of events. And what's happening right now, Pete, is that's most frustrating is Navy's beating [00:04:00] itself.

I mean, You would feel better if teams are just coming in and shellacking Navy. I don't know you feel better, but when you see Navy beating itself and I'll reference eight penalties for 70 yards, several penalties, just incredibly ill timed. You're moving the ball, you've got offensive momentum and you get a illegal procedure penalty, false start on first down.

It's just a drive killer or you force a punt. And then you rough the punter and South Florida gets the ball back with a fresh set of downs. They just, these are the type of penalty of plays that kill you. And then, like we mentioned that we had the fumble that led to a touchdown. How about a routine extra point that instead of, you know, being kicked through the uprights winds up as a, a bad snap leads to a two point [00:05:00] conversion by South Florida.

It's a three point swing. And so I think that's, what's most frustrating to Navy fans is that there is seeing a team that beats itself. So, I mean, a 44 30 loss to South Florida. And I know south florida's completely overturned its roster. I know they've got a better coaching staff that really has a good plan, but I'm sorry, this is a team that had a 19 game road losing streak and was three and 29 in the previous three seasons.

And you're at home and you need a win. Yeah, and that's another thing that's going to come up here this week as Navy welcomes North Texas into Annapolis at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Navy's home record since 2020, Pete, is not very good. 5 and 13. 13 losses since 2020. At the, on the hallowed turf of Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, that has to change.

[00:06:00] Well, I mean, that was the one thing that you could count on pre pandemic. They were darn near unbeatable at home, for the most part. And that's the one thing that, you know, they would certainly, you know, and again, it comes down to the quality of play. You got to play better. , if you play better, you're going to win more at home.

I mean, it's real simple. I mean, they, they've got to play better everywhere. I think that's the key right now for the entire program. , and they know that coaches know that. So I think the, the, the story for this week will be, you know, which guy performs better gets the first snap at quarterback on Saturday.

And can that person establish themselves and stay there at that spot? And I phrase it like that because. That was kind of what we got from Brian Newberry on Monday. They're not ready to make that commitment. They want to see what the work looks like this week. I believe that [00:07:00] work probably includes Braxton Woodson a little bit more in practice this week.

But again, as you said, cutting a guy, a brand new guy loose like that is going to have some growing pains. There's going to be some awkwardness that comes with it. Are you willing to grow with that? You know, you brought it up in the press conference this week. I mean, Ivan kind of alluded to us that they knew Kenan Reynolds was a different dude.

 You know, during his freshman season and even leading up to it and you knew it was just a matter of time before he took over. He just happened to do it on a gigantic stage at air force in the fourth quarter of a game. So maybe that moment is coming for Blake Corvette. Maybe that moment is coming for Braxton Woodson, but you know until they convinced the coaches with their play, that they're ready for prime time.

Here's the thing, Bill. And I think this is the big thing. And you and I, [00:08:00] obviously we get messages during the games from people. And obviously we see the angst on, Navy Twitter and other forms of social media. And look, first of all, it's great that the fans care. I think that's the other thing. If your fans didn't care, then, you know, you'd really be concerned about how much support you have for your program, but you're glad that people care.

Concepts, conceptually, philosophically, Bill, this offense is working. They had people wide open. I mean, I mean, Hassan is 20 yards behind the defense, even with the pass behind him. If he catches it, he's still going to run for a touchdown. The past doesn't get there. Corner of the end zone. I mean, Hassan is open again.

The football doesn't get there. This reminds me of the stuff kind of early in the Paul Johnson era, where dudes are running wide open, but it was kind of a 50, 50, sometimes 40, 60 chances to whether the football was going to get there [00:09:00] for the people that are just crushing the new philosophy and the new concepts that Grant Chestnut has brought to the offense.

I think that's unfair because. I think the concept, you and I see it from up above, the concepts are there. The execution of what's happening has to be better because if Amin Hassan catches that pass early in the game. You completely set a different tone for the game and with the way South Florida fell apart on its own at the start of the game to really give you a 14, nothing beginning.

You just never know how this game goes, at that point, because you did sack their quarterback, a lot, but that's the execution of the concepts right now has to be better. And I'm not sure that's going to be until they decide on one guy or. One guy decides for them that they're going to be the quarterback.

Get on my shoulders. Let's go play some football. Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, I like a [00:10:00] lot of what Grant Chestnut has introduced. I do have one criticism from Saturday is I thought he beat his head into the wall a little too much with running the fullback dive when it against a 10, 11 man front, it just, it wasn't happening.

And that's where he is. Talk so much about the short passing game concepts, and that's exactly what the short passing game is designed to do is find another way to get three or four yards in a relatively low risk, high percentage manner, and we saw none of that on Saturday and coach Newberry agreed. I asked him both after the game and I asked him again during his Monday press conference, and he agreed and even said, I think.

You know, you grant would be the first to tell you that there are some calls he'd like to have back. And that was my only criticism is that I would have liked to seen some screen passes or some flares or, you know, slop back over the middle, very. Low risk one, [00:11:00] two step drop, you know, ball out in two, three seconds, low risk, so you're not risking a sack.

I just would have liked to seen a couple, a few other ways to get the ball three or four yard gain, as opposed to trying to run a fullback or the quarterback into a wall of defenders, it's just not going to work. So that was my only criticism there, but I do agree, you know, and like you said, you've got to make plays.

There should have been two touchdowns on play, action, pass, period. End of story. When guys are that wide open, you take your time. And what happened? Ty, oh, badly under through. I mean, on the first pass in which he was 20, take your time. He had time to throw that when a guy's that wide open, just loft the ball up there, so there's no possible way you can miss him.

And on the second pass, Blake Horvath didn't set his feet. He, he, he was choppy with the feet and that's why the throw wasn't on target. Set your [00:12:00] feet and make the throw. Now to his credit, let's recognize that Blake did complete a 68 yard touchdown pass to Eli Heidenreich. Very talented young slot back.

So Blake did, you know, come back and make a nice throw. I'll close it out with this beat. I think you're going to see Braxton Woodson against North Texas. You know, I've all since preseason, I've been listening to coach Newberry and coach chestnut. Talk up Braxton Woodson. in my mind, he is the future that he's the guy that I think this coaching staff.

identified him before he even got here as the talented quarterback who was the future. And, you know, coach Newberry revealed something to us during his presser on Monday. I mentioned about how Keenan Reynolds took time, you know, during his spring break at high school he came to Navy to watch spring practice and to learn about the offense.

They gave him a playbook that he took home over the summer. to study. [00:13:00] Well, Coach Newberry revealed that Braxton Woodson traveled up to Annapolis to watch spring practice and try to learn as much as he could. So, you know, I think you are going to see Braxton Woodson against North Texas. They want to get him in a game and see how he performs.

He's already gotten into one game. He played against Wagner at the end and he had A couple nice runs. He showed that dynamic, dynamic running ability that we know he has. And, you know, I've seen in practice that he also has a very strong, accurate arm. So I think Ty gets to start, maybe Blake gets some time as well as has been the case here the last few games, but I, I believe you're going to see Braxton Woodson against North Texas.

Well, it was this time in the schedule, Keenan Reynolds, freshman season, when he entered in the fourth quarter out at air force, perhaps the timing will be the same here for Braxton Woodson, a lot to be sorted out for the mid certainly got to improve on defense as well. North Texas [00:14:00] comes to town this week with their great offense.

Eric Morris did a great job at incarnate word, obviously a year in Washington state, putting up tremendous numbers with a great cam ward and now. As the head coach at North Texas, they put up a lot of points and win last week over Abilene Christian coming up. We'll talk cross country. And so the Navy men's and women's cross country teams are underway this fall still to come our weekly wrap up of all the good things happening on the yard.

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Shrek will get the job done for you. Welcome back to the Anchors Aweigh podcast. Time to shine the light this week on cross country. We start with the men first with Aaron Lanzel, the men's coach, 2003 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. And, you know, Aaron, just as a. [00:17:00] As a grad, what's it like to be able to come back to the Naval Academy, be coaching, and obviously try to help shape?

 The lives of midshipmen, certainly a life that you are very familiar with. Yeah, it certainly, you know, takes you back to a lot of good memories. I think mostly good memories. There's always a few of the tough memories place like this, but, helping those guys get through those days and then, you know, showing them that the amazing things they'll get to do, beyond.

So all the hard work that they're putting in, you know, certainly connecting with the team that I've been so close to for so long, through my coach, Coach Cantelo. And then, you know, all the decisions they make. So what do they want to major in? What do they want to go do when they graduate?

Getting to give them that first person experience of, you know, well, this is kind of what you're looking forward. So all those things are really enjoyable for me to be able to do in addition to helping them. Primarily first and foremost to be great athletes, but, , certainly the, [00:18:00] the mission and everything we do here is, , kind of above that.

If it comes down to it, we got to get them to graduation. We got to get them, , on the road to be an officer when they graduate. So, well, Aaron, to say how happy we are that you are coaching and will continue coaching because the. looming federal shutdown would have put you on furlough, which would have been very difficult situation.

I know that was the last thing you wanted to see. How happy were you to see them come down with a deal that enabled you to keep doing what you love to do? Well, I was keeping up on, on Sunday, now checking things out., we were coming back from our meet at Paul short and Lehigh on Saturday and seeing the, okay, great.

They're proposing something. Oh, this is good. yeah, definitely very happy., I think, you know, in the short term, our team and our guys are really well prepared. So I think they wouldn't have skipped a beat, you know, if I was gone for a week., but I don't want to miss out on all the fun. [00:19:00] So. I'm super happy that I could be back here and get to watch their workouts.

And so plans are in the, in the works to make sure they had everything they needed in the plan. , for the next couple of weeks to keep them going. And, , it would've worked out, I think pretty well, but, , hopefully better now, cause I get to be part of the fun. Aaron, you had a chance to, , you know, be tutored by one of the legends at the Naval Academy.

There, there are a few people in our lives that, , you know, ascend to legendary or icon type status, but Al Cantello was that, , at the Naval Academy. , just what was it like? To be coached by him and, and how big of an influence. Was he on the great success you obviously had, , as a midshipman and, and even, you know, post a midshipman life as a runner as well.

, well, it's, you know, I guess the main reason I wanted to come back and be a part of it after such a huge influence on my life, my running. My career, you know, , becoming [00:20:00] an adult, you know, from those, you know, 17, 18 year old days to then, you know, getting thrown in a cockpit and saying, all right, you're in charge, take this, , aircraft and however many millions of dollars and lives that, that you're taking care of.

so a big part of that was this team. , he puts you in a lot of tough spots. , and, , you know, I think just the sport and the racing and having to compete, you know, being on on the spot yourself, having to do it, he knew how to get the most out of you, to really put you in the pressure cooker, so that when times were hard, you would be able to respond.

So, yeah, I always look back on those days, you know, I remember the earliest ones for me getting gnome. I didn't know if I'd be able. I was like, I don't know if I can make it on this team. I don't know if I can run for this guy for the whole time. you know, unorthodox always comes up as the guys, I use that term a lot to talk about how he, he coached.

But, the dynamic, person that he was, certainly, made a lot of memories, a lot of great memories and things that, you know, I, [00:21:00] I hope I can , attain a few of those things for my guys. Of course, I don't think I'll be able to be him, so I've got to be the best version of me I can be. But, we've, we've had a pretty good record now on the running side and, and I feel like the feedback I get in just the short term I have.

 At least shows me I learned a few things from one of the grades. So, hopefully we'll learn a few more things along the way and. and be able to continue that. The program and the legacy that he he's still watching. I'll probably give him a call here later today and he'll tell me what he thinks about our last performance.

So we'll keep that going. Coach, why don't you tell us how things are going so far this season? You mentioned the Paul short run, which was this past Saturday and Junior Murphy Smith had a runner up finish and your team finished placed sixth in that event up there in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Why don't you kind of tell us where you feel the team is and obviously looming not too far in the future is, Army.

,Yeah, really the, we've had two tough meets [00:22:00] in a row last two Saturdays, we, we kind of set it up that way. We wanted to see, some of the best teams in the country. So, you know, rewind another week, we're at Virginia and, half of the top teams in the country. So, you know, there's probably 300 programs in the country and, 14 or 15 of the top 30 teams were there.

So getting the guys to see those teams and compete against them , individually. So, Sam Keeney had a great day there. Yeah. And he's our team captain and certainly, raring to go to be ready at the front. With Murphy every time, but, you know, that was a great experience. The guys really responded.

Well, we'd be a couple of good teams, people, people took notice a little bit in the region, then one week later, which is not typical, try to hit two big ones in a row for a lot of teams that you should try to just do a couple on the season and then try to run well at the regional meet to qualify for nationals , but.

You know, it's the type of program we have. We want to try to use those races as workouts and really give them a racing experience. And, and, they responded both [00:23:00] times. So they came back, we had a tough workout. We had another tough race at fall short. Murphy, I mean, even after all the hard work comes back and he has a better day, you expect them to be a little tired.

And even some of the other guys, the younger guys than him. And that race should have been a little more tired, but, Luke Nester was our fifth man that day and Justin Mumford, was our fourth man that day, and those guys really had good races coming back again, the team finish was a little disappointing overall, just because, you know, we were, we didn't have everybody firing perfectly.

And I think those are the things we want to fix, you know, and try to get everybody healthy and some things you can't control, but just trying to get the guys a hundred percent and healthy once we had the army. So we didn't have any. Anything that serious that we're worrying about, just, you know, stupid little things, a head cold or a side stitch or something like that.

And it kind of ruins the day for one guy, but you know, Murphy did fantastic. That was a really tough day. It was very muddy and several spots and some very good individuals. [00:24:00] And then, you know, he really had a breakout there. But Alexander Kirkland was right there and with them for most of that race.

And, you know, it was another junior who. It was really worked up from, you know, not a big resume in high school and, he's just put the work in and come back this summer. So ready. So we've got a lot of depth even beyond those guys, army here now and 10 days and, we're getting ready for the trip and just trying to make sure everybody's well prepared.

But I think the great thing about what we have right now this season is we're not trying to play catch up and we're not trying to cram anything in to get ready. You know, the guys put a ton of work in and, and have done all the right things to this point. So now it's just a matter of being, you know, a hundred percent ready.

 And then, you know, even the workouts, if we didn't even get to run the next 10 days, it probably would, we would still have a good amount of confidence. So, yeah, so that's where we're at right now. Well, two weeks then to the Patriot league after Army. For a conference championship and then another two weeks [00:25:00] after that, we'll run the NCAA regionals and, you know, between Murphy and Sam Keeney and even the team a little bit, you know, there's a little bit of a shot to get somebody to the national championships there.

Either individual and, and some tough teams with Villanova Princeton, to look at in our region, as well as about four or five others, but, you know, those are the top two right now. And, and, we'll take a shot and why not? We're going to be there. So we'll compete. Aaron, I'll let you out on this. I love seeing local kids thrive at the Naval Academy.

 Sam Keeney, a young man who, went to a school at South River, a public school program where athletics are incredibly competitive all across the board, both boys and girls. But just what has he brought to your program? Certainly as a captain now , leading, your program, you know, as someone who has lived the program yourself, what does Sam bringing to the table, obviously as a captain and clearly a top performer for you?

Yeah. I mean, he's, he is a great leader. The guys have rallied around [00:26:00] him. You know, he's taken it over from, you know, three, four years of great captains that we've had. And, you know, he can do it on, on the, you know, the playing field as well. So he's, already achieved a ton for our program.

You know, he's won conference titles and, and outdoor and indoor, he was a runner up in cross country last year. So he's got a whole list of conference titles to his name. He's had a couple of disappointments too, and he's come through a lot. And to be as consistent, as prepared as he has been this year is, really a testament to his character and who he is.

 So yeah, it's, I think it's a lot of fun for him to have a little bit of that hometown, feel and, and get to do it on the big stage. Now, you know, this season as well, yeah, he's our top guy, Virginia top finisher, they're competing against, you know, a whole slew of all Americans. And, you know , he's ready to go.

I mean, he was probably ready to push a little bit earlier in the race now and have that confidence to know that when it comes to the regional meet, [00:27:00] he's taken a shot to get to the NCAAs this year. So, he's been fantastic, you know, ever since he's been here, he lived through the COVID year here.

And, now he's finally getting to, you know, break out and even though the last year was a pretty big breakout year for him, this year, I think he's, he's certainly poised to do even more with where his fitness is. So he's doing fantastic. Before we let you go. Curious why take the weekend off before Army?

Do you feel like that's the best strategy? Not run rest of the legs for the big meet. You know, I guess you take time off between that and the Patriot League championships as well. Is that the strategy with cross country? You need that, that time to rest up. It's not good to compete one week before the really big meets.

Well, you know, in some ways on the one, one handed, you know, there's an emotional bucket, I think you have. And, you know, to go to that, well, week after week, that drains a little bit in addition to just the, you know, the type of sport it is, it's [00:28:00] an endurance, you know, performance every time. So 8K to 10K, when we run regionals, it just takes a lot out of the body and really in the training focus, you know, we're working with just very small adaptations day after day after day.

And I guess on the books, you know, when you get into the study of you know, endurance, training and the you know, training effect you get, you know, people say about 10 days, you can, you have one big effort, 10 days prior to, you know, performance. And you aren't going to gain anything big after that.

You can kind of gain that training effect and get a little bit better, but that little bit better is not going to be that big. It's gotta be months upon years of preparation to really get to the capabilities that you need. So you know, we did a couple of big ones in a row and that's kind of like putting that overload and driving their systems down and driving their bodies down a bit in the last couple of weeks, and now they're going to, you know, get a little bit more intensity in the workouts, but a little less just on the pounding side.

And so I guess that gets behind the, you know, the [00:29:00] planning and the bigger picture of how we try to run each season and how to get to the next season. So, you know, typically you'll see all the, a lot of teams will. Well, probably not even race as much as we do, but there's also another side of that where, you know, you gotta be ready to and hardened for competition.

And so having that mental edge that some older people, if they're just doing workouts every day, you gotta be ready for the real fight. So we try to balance that out but now it's time to, the guys have gotten a lot of really good racing experience and, you know, we'll have some tough workouts off the time but we're ready to go. And the real race counts and appreciate the time today. Best of luck to you and your team for the rest of the fall. And certainly next Saturday as you all travel to West point to take on Army. Thank you. Pleased to be joined now by women's cross country coach, Kim Lunas and Kim, just like we're talking about, you know, with Aaron, you know, for your team.

Right now just kind of give us a general overview where you guys are, as you all also preparing for [00:30:00] Army coming up a week from Saturday at West Point. Yeah, I mean, Aaron and I collaborate quite a bit, so I don't hope it's not too repetitive but yeah, we kinda started off the season with Colgate to preview the conference championship course.

 Got to have a very exciting meet at home so that we got to give everyone opportunity to compete on our very challenging course and then, yeah, going to UVA gave us some really great exposure to those nationally ranked teams, which is what we're trying to, you know, strive for, get the student athletes to be able to see that kind of experience.

It's very exciting for them to be among amongst the best in the country and then to see themselves in that especially for, you know, our younger kids kind of seeing what that could look like four years down the road when they get to see Emily Booten be, you know, 17th amongst the best in the country.

And then yeah, Paul Short gave us some regionally, mostly regionally ranked, but a couple of national ranked teams in there too. It's a huge race, which is kind of similar to what our regional championship is as well. So UVA is about 10 teams similar to Patriot League, about 10 teams, or sorry, UVA was about 23 teams but you know, once [00:31:00] we get to the Paul Short meet, that's about 45 in a race. Our region's pretty big too, so we have to get used to being on a line with that many people. and then we'll go to the smallest race of the year when we just put 12 on the line for each team with us and Army next week.

So it's a great start to the season so far. We've had our ups and downs, nothing's perfect, but we just got to focus on the process and one step at a time. Can't look too far ahead to Patriots, but just focus on Army in two weeks. Probably the highlight of the season so far was capturing the team championship at the Navy Invitational.

It's always nice to win on the home course. And Emily Booten and Ellie Abraham finished 1 2 there. We've talked to you last season and, you know, Boots is just something else. She's just been a team leader now for several seasons. She's Even as a junior, she was very much like a captain and just a very talented runner.

What can you say about boots? Yeah. I mean, she's an impressive individual on and off the course. I think she's, you know, she's gotten to some of her [00:32:00] press time too. And I think most people can pick up on her personality. She's incredibly energetic and wonderful leader for that reason. And then she backs it up with how well she performs.

She's a true student of the sport. So coachable, you know, willing to ask questions and kind of work things through also willing to challenge herself like no other. And that's, you know, in the classroom, on the cross country course in anything that she does. And that is a great example for our whole team. Ellie similarly is like as tough as they come, you know, she's she as far as like service selection, those kind of things. She's the one who is going to be, you know, doing some crazy things down the road, I'm sure. And I think there it's a great first day class, really, because right now we have Four first season, that top five pack for us.

So they've really banded together, and kind of taking that as their whole personality as a, as a squad of holding themselves to that standard of being leaders, not just, you know on the team side of things, but also on the cross country course. [00:33:00] YouTube page. Last week, and I've been interviewing kids at the Naval Academy for 26 years.

She's in the top five all time, Kim, there's no doubt about it. she's just an impressive individual. I'll ask you the same question I asked Aaron. You know, you took over for a coach in Karen Boyle, who had been here since 1987 as the head coach. Just like, you know, Aaron had taken over for Al Cantelo.

Just to step into that position, you know, knowing what Karen, did with the program, you obviously experienced it too as a volunteer assistant under her just what was it like to have that position now? And just what kind of an influence was she on you? And it's obviously now you try to continue the success of this wonderful program.

Yeah. I mean, it was great to volunteer under her for two years. And then when she was, you know, stepping into retirement from coaching just the faith that she had in me was really something that helped me to, I don't know, believe that I could do it, believe that [00:34:00] I was ready for that kind of, this kind of position at that point she had, I think she even said like, I think I was about your age when I, when I took over this program.

So then it was kind of cool to see, like, hopefully we parallel with those, you know, 30 years here at the Academy. Yeah. It really speaks to the institution, for both Al and for Karen. Like there are challenges here for sure, but challenges is what makes the victory so sweet. and yeah, being able to have her support and then still having her on campus, you know, cause she's in the PE department is really great.

You know, she started the Academy when women were such a minority. So, you know, she had her battles to fight, but I'm sure a little bit different than the ones that I'm fighting now, but, you know it is an inspiration to be around her and, and Carla to, you know, they're both rays of sunshine and I'm always cheering on our Navy women, which is really great to, to be able to step in after her and hopefully have a similar legacy.

So coach, are you feeling good about army meet? I mean, and what do you feel has to happen for Navy to come out on top and that very important star meet? Yeah. [00:35:00] So we beat them this past weekend at Paul short. It was pretty tight. I think they were this team right behind us. But I feel pretty good with where we're at with that going into it for, a couple, two, you know, 10 days from now.

We, I think we raced pretty well at Paul short, but we still have some room for improvement, especially when it comes down to not like training through it as we did for Paul short. We were maybe a little bit more on tired legs, a few things that we know we need to adjust. Yeah. Going into that a couple of, you know, people on the team who've been working through some individual stuff.

And then, you know, but that's why you were in the race, right? They were, the team was looking at BU, you know, they had a really great day, but you know the points on that given day, aren't going to dictate where we are in a couple of weeks you know, we'll focus on. Army champion or the army and then the Patriot League championship and make sure we're as prepared as possible.

 In order to, you know, come out on top for both of those. Kim, I know people look at it goes just running, but in cross country, what difference, if at all, will the core set army make? And what challenges does that [00:36:00] present for runners in that competition? Yeah, so the army course we've competed last couple years was off site.

It was about, I think, 45 minutes from their campus at a local state park. Their course is now back to the golf course, which was actually the course I ran out when I was running for Cornell. I think my freshman or sophomore year. But that was a five K. We actually haven't gotten the course map yet from Army.

So we will, you know, Aaron and I are doing our best to kind of figure that out, but the course definitely dictates how we run the race, the strategy of the race, maybe that's why we haven't gotten a map yet. So we have , this past weekend at Paul short, for instance, we there's hills like About a mile and a half left to go in the race.

The decline starts for about 1200 meters, a little bit of ups and downs, but mostly up and then, you know, when you get to the end 1200 meters to go, most of it's downhill. So, you know, one of our first is Ellie Abraham. She said a couple of years ago when I was here, I went hard on those hills. And I was dead for the final 1200, you know, planting that seed in the, in the plebs minds of just like, don't get too excited at that [00:37:00] point in the race.

And that's pretty true for a lot of our courses, but it doesn't mean it's gonna be the same for every individual on our team. Some people do better on the uphill. Some people do better on the downhill. Some people are, you know, better at running a very even race. Some people have to get out and get going, you know also the the race kind of is dictated by the competition that you have at hand for why we.

Especially with army where it's going to be a little more strategic than you know, Paul short of UVA, where, you know, there's no reason not to take a risk just to take a chance and see what you got. Whereas we have to be a little more measured going into army. Cause if you blow up and you don't have your fifth gal that is the difference.

Winning and losing. So, yeah, I think the the army course from what I understand has a about 800 meter climb and then or 800 meter downhill and then 800 meter uphill. And I think it'll be about two loops around a similar kind of course. So I think they'll hit it twice. Maybe one direction one time, the other direction, the other.

So we will, you know, plan accordingly to be able to make sure that we're ready for it. And physically, we're ready for it. It's [00:38:00] just a matter of kind of coming up with that game plan, and communicating that as a team and to each individual strengths. Well, that's some gamesmanship on the part of Army.

I think it's that calls for a secret reconnaissance mission. Somebody needs to go up there and dark of night and map out the course for you. I'm glad you mentioned about running at Cornell when you were Kim Standridge and you were a tremendous runner, both cross country and track and field. And you're married to our good friend, Mack Lunas, Anna Rundle County Sports Hall of Famer.

I think the story is that Mack was out of shape. He was trying to get ready for Ivy League championships. And he came to you and said, you need to train me and teach me how to get my stamina back. That's how you all met, right? Not quite. He, he's a, he's pretty fit. He runs with me now. Yeah, it's, he has a good, good set of cinema wrestling and the 800 are very similar as far as that, you know, explosiveness and then, that stamina for it. No, he ,in Ithaca, you know, there's the [00:39:00] gorges. He double legged me into the, into the gorges that just really swept me off my feet, literally. And I come from a wrestling family, so, you know, it's kind of, it's understandable how these barbarians. So if if Navy beats Army, does the entire team get a free dinner at Luna's Steakhouse? Both Army and Patriots. We're not just doing Army here. Yeah. I was gonna say, you gotta give them a great incentive.

 There, there's no doubt about that. Kim, just on the, on the way out here you know, what, in your mind will be a key to getting a victory there, but more importantly, continuing that success into trying to win another Patriot League. Championship for this team. Yeah, I mean, my kind of my saying is like, do what you're doing in practice and it'll work out in the races.

 I really do think that everyone's looking great in practice. Being able to translate to that race is hard. I think sometimes that's actually more of the mental aspect of things. [00:40:00] But, you know, we were at the Naval Academy, right? We have some mentally tough kids here. Sometimes it's a little too mental, like they get too much in their head.

So that I think is just something we'll be working on. And luckily, that's something you know, we're constantly working on it, but also working on it in the next, you know, 10 days. This is a pretty easy focus for us and the team just the team focused on that team concept. No one is Selfish.

No one is, you know. Oh, the pecking order is how things have to go. The women, the all 12 girls, there'll be racing. An army will be putting themselves in position to be in our top seven, to be in our top five. If someone has an off day, someone is there to pick them up. It's one of the most like refreshing feelings.

I haven't been on a team or been a part of a program where I've seen such camaraderie amongst the women in order to reach the team goal. You know, not as focused on it. That individual glory, but, you know, really addressing like what we're trying to do as a team. So I think just got to keep doing what we're doing and, you know work for those next couple goals that we have.

And then, yeah, going into the [00:41:00] Patriot League championship. Similarly it's, it's a 10 team race. So the strategy is a little bit different than a dual meet because you have some other teams, some other individuals in there who can kind of play around with the points. So, you know, we just have to focus on getting kind of repeating of last year, getting, you know, Almost all the top seven in the top two, you know, all conference teams.

And you know, I know boots will be going for that championship again. And she's looking like she's really set up to do that very well. So, I mean, she looks better than she looked last year and she won last year. So I think we're, we're in a good spot. Kim, thank you so much for taking the time for us.

Best of luck to you and your team, not only next week, but obviously with the rest of the fall as well. Thanks for the time today. Thank you. Yeah, you guys have a great week fans. The Navy volleyball team returns to Wesley Brown Fieldhouse Friday, October the 13th for a matchup at seven o'clock with longtime Patriot League rival American University.

The team will be hosting its annual meet the mids post game autograph session following the game. So be sure to come on out and meet your Navy [00:42:00] volleyball team. Fans don't forget the Navy men's soccer team returns to Glenn Warner soccer facility, Saturday, October 21st. For a 6 p. m. Matchup with Holy Cross.

The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free t shirt. Plus, we will be honoring our senior class prior to the start of the game. Remember, all Navy men's and women's soccer matches played to the Glenwater Soccer Facility are free to attend. And of course, next Saturday, it's a big one. The Army Navy rivalry takes center stage at Glenwater Soccer Facility on the women's side.

Tons of giveaways at the game, including free T shirts, many posters, many pennants and pizza. The Army Navy Women's Soccer Game is presented by our friends at USAA, proud sponsors of the Army Navy Series. And remember You can get in absolutely free. That's Saturday, October 14th. It's army and Navy women's soccer pitch at 7 PM.

Welcome back. A couple of weeks ago, the Navy men's soccer team was trying to find its footing and they have seemingly done that right [00:43:00] now. Perfect timing with the start of the Patriot League schedule. And it was kind of the. schedule that got them going a year ago. I'll be at last year with a couple of ties this weekend, a dominating effort against Lehigh, David Jackson continues to play outstanding soccer right now for the mids.

And you would expect that from a senior with his team struggling saying, Hey, fellas, let's go. I've got us sophomore forward. Andrew Schug scoring the goals as men's soccer knocking off Lehigh to nothing. They outshot. Lehigh 20 to 11 in this game. Schug scoring in the 28th minute off an assist from no award and Jackson adding the insurance marker in the 81st minute for the mids and more importantly now, Navy two O, and one plea.

Victor Sade was named the Patriot league rookie of the week this week as well. And Bill has been quite a turnaround for Tim O'Donohue's team. I remember just a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about results that we're not only not close, but not, you know, really becoming of their, their [00:44:00] culture and they have seemingly turned it around here perfectly at the right time.

Well, yeah, they're playing like the defending Patriot League champions, Pete. And it's not too early at this point in the season to start looking at that table of men's soccer standings Boston University in Loyola, Maryland are atop the standings at three Oh, and one in the Patriot league. And then Lafayette at three, one.

Three and one, but a Navy's in a good position to be two Oh one one. So if they continue to keep rolling the way they have Could be back in that Patriot league championship game. Hey, Pete you've seen sprint football, right? You, have you called a couple of sprint football games are gone?

Sure. I've, I've called plenty of sprint football in my time at Navy. It's kind of fun. I mean I actually have not seen a lot of sprint football. I covered the CSL, the collegiate sprint football league championship game last year, last fall between army and Navy. And it was great action. And I tell you what, folks.

Get out there and watch sprint football because Navy's [00:45:00] really good. And they put a hurting on Mansfield again you know, that once the Navy is the dominant team in the CSFL, they've won multiple championships. And this happens a lot that they win by these types of scores, but Hunter Gennix gained 81 yards on just five carries to lead a powerful rushing tag.

As Navy sprint football shut out Mansfield, 45, nothing Victor Otero and Tyler Messina added 74 and 68 rushing yards for the mids who rolled up almost 300 yards on the ground quarterback, Brandon Atwood added 102 passing yards for Navy, which led 35, nothing at halftime and finished with 461 total yards.

And here's a fun one that you mentioned last week beat. Kai Sasaki led the receiving core with three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. That's dual sport athlete. Also a short stick defensive midfielder for the men's lacrosse team. Kai Sasaki kind of fun, huh? Yeah, definitely. I'm going to have to find out too to see if Stacey [00:46:00] Michaud can run this down for me with Kai.

See if he's any relation to former country star, Hank Sasaki as well. I used to play Hank Sasaki records a long time ago in my broadcasting career. Oh, twin twin twin sisters, Jamie and Jordan Llewellyn had 13 kills combined nine digs, four aces for Navy as they rallied for a five step thriller over Bucknell.

On Friday night, Jordan Lewellen finishing with a total of 17 kills Jamie Lewellen with 16 Anna Meyer 12. As the mids won the decisive fifth set by a score of 15 to eight. Unfortunately, the mids could not secure a victory on Saturday night against Lafayette in another, a long fifth set marathon, but the mids still sitting at 11 and three overall and three and two in Patriot league action right now.

You know, that's interesting. How the Patriot League works volleyball. And it's different from any other sport [00:47:00] for the most part that basically you play two matches per weekend. I guess it just works out travel wise to send schools down and, and, you know, but it's kind of odd to play. Back to back like that Friday, Saturday, just interesting.

Yeah. And what's interesting to bill other sports you talked about in the Patriot league, having travel partners and they, for some reason, can't agree on it yet in volleyball, that's exactly what they do every weekend. So it makes sense. Yeah. Basketball should do it Friday, Sunday. Well, it's kind of the opposite for women's soccer. It was a shootout on Saturday at Glen Warner as Navy women's soccer celebrated senior day, but it wasn't a celebration seniors, Katie Herman and Jenna Don scored goals as Navy erased an early two Oh deficit, but Abigail McNulty scored the tie breaking goal in the 85th minute.

As Boston University pulled out a 3 [00:48:00] 2 win during a pregame ceremony, the Midshipmen honored their eight seniors. One of them was goalie, Maddie Gallagher, who registered four saves for Navy, which fell to six, four and three overall and one in three in the Patriot League and Pete Navy women's soccer's in last place in the Patriot League standing.

So they, and Karen already referenced it. She was quoted in the press release. So the Boston University came saying, we, we got to get together and get a Clint. You know, they're, they're now facing an uphill battle just to get into. The Patriot League postseason tournament. Yeah. And just playing more responsibly in front of Maddie Gallagher, is really the biggest thing right now when you watch the games, you know, there are moments where they just, you know, sometimes the mistakes are mistakes of effort and then sometimes it's indecisiveness and when you do that and let's face it.

Navy made the rest of the Patriot League get better in women's [00:49:00] soccer, their success through the years, they set the standard of it. They made the other programs get dedicated to it be you certainly a program that. You know along with loyal, when they came in, you know, these are programs that weren't necessarily, you know, held to the same standards as maybe academically and everything, great academic institutions.

I'm not saying that they're not, you know, these are good programs and now. You know, it's, it's almost like Navy has to in the league. And I think that's the, the big thing, 90 minutes of quality play, you know, they show plenty of stretches where they play really good soccer, but putting together 90 minutes of good play right now seems to be the missing element.

 For this team, you know, we talked triathlon both on the Navy sports magazine and here on the Anchors Aweigh podcast. And, you know, what a moment for a first year program, as you know, Navy triathlon You know, in its first [00:50:00] regular season is the varsity program. They've been a club program for years, but they got their first team victory.

As Haley Harris Anna wetluck and Sarah Jarman swept the podium as Navy one, the Waterman sprint triathlon held over in rock hall on the Eastern shore and Kent County, all 17 members placed in the top 15 as Navy scored 128 points, Delaware state was second with 93 Harris was the individual winner with a time of one hour nine minutes and scored 28 points for the mids. Wet luck and Jarman play second and third at a minute 12 and a minute 13 respectively. But you know, hey, what a great thing to put you know, in their cap for first year program to get that first team victory. And I think the sky's the limit. We know what the physical mission means to the Naval Academy bill.

We see nothing but, you know, athletes and midshipmen running around the Naval Academy all the time. Physical fitness means everything to them, and triathlon is a great sport for them to display it [00:51:00] and the women picking up their first team victory. Congratulations to them. The 19th ranked Navy water polo team posted a 21 record during a three game homestand that started Thursday.

Sam Collingwood and Kiefer Black scored four and three goals respectively, as Navy closed out the weekend by beating Bucknell 15 10 in a Mid Atlantic water polo conference contest. Aidan Day, Nathan Duchess, and Hayden Kahn scored two goals apiece for the Mids, who went on a 5 0 run after the Bison had tied the score at 9.

Navy had routed George Washington 15 6 on Thursday, then lost 12 9 to number 18 Fordham on Saturday. Tonight's bounce back though, after that Fordham loss for the mids to get it done against Bucknell. Meanwhile, senior captain Megan hurdle earning individual medalist honors, Navy women's golf, getting the team title with the Navy invitational hurdle shot a tournament low 71.

I'm jealous in the final round to overtake five golfers on the leaderboard and finish in first place, Stephanie Lee and Emma Tang also [00:52:00] playing well for the mid shipment who totaled 607. On the score six better than runner up Towson. Hey Pete, I think we got a new candidate for the all name team.

How about this for Navy women's rugby miracle Haynes? You like that? Love it. You have to call that a rugby game just to say that on the air, but she. She delivered a miracle. Miracle Haines scored the game winning try in the 76th minute as Navy women's rugby overcame a 10 point deficit, defeat Long Island, 1918, Sunday in New York, it was the first national intercollegiate rugby association win of the season for the mids.

Haynes started to comeback by scoring her first try. And Abby Kirschner booted three important penalty kicks for Navy. Coming up this weekend or this week, actually I believe it's Thursday, Friday and you can fact check me on that, but a big star match. Now Army, navy Golf, Pete up there in West Point, I believe this is the first star [00:53:00] match of the of the season of the 20 23, 20 24 school year. What else we got coming up this weekend, Pete? As a matter of fact, that action is here in Annapolis and Ryder cup style format matches starting on Thursday. And then the singles matches on Friday talk with team captain Ben Valdez earlier this week.

Interesting to note there Ben, a junior as the captain of the Navy golf team is they don't have any seniors on the golf team. So if you want to get out here to Annapolis, the Naval Academy golf course. And help cheer them on. They would love to have your support this weekend. Men's water polo takes on Johns Hopkins on a Friday night.

It's got an auditorium. That'll be a seven o'clock start. Meanwhile, women's volleyball heads back out on the road as they try to continue a good play in the Patriot league as they will take on Lehigh sprint football at army coming up on Friday night. That's a preview of usually what the championship matchup is.

 In sprint [00:54:00] football each and every season offshore sailing competes in the Annapolis Yacht Club fall series coming up on Saturday as well. Also keep in mind too, lacrosse gets into their fall action. Women's lacrosse is going to be up at us lacrosse headquarters. If you're a Navy women's lacrosse fan.

And two amazing matchups, Boston college and Maryland for them to challenge themselves in the fall. So Cindy Timshel's team going to find some terrific competition coming up this weekend, but us lacrosse headquarters, and of course, football North Texas in town for a three 30 kickoff coming up.

On Saturday, Bill and I will recap it for you next week, right here on the Anchors Aweigh podcast. That'll do it for us. Our thanks to you as always for your support. Tell a friend, if you're a Navy fan, tell them if they want to learn and find out a lot of stuff about Navy athletics, tune in each and every week to the Anchors Aweigh podcast for Bill Wagner.

I'm Pete Medhurst. Thanks for joining us on the Anchors Aweigh podcast.