Merchant Marine Hosts Alumni Cross Country Race

KING'S POINT, N.Y. - A record crowd turned out for the for the 8th Annual Alumni/Midshipmen 5k Race at the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday morning. Over 500 runners finished the race which began at 8:30 a.m. Amongst the many runners were all of the plebe candidates (freshmen) alumni, faculty and staff, and several other Midshipmen from various athletic teams. Varsity teams that competed in the race included men's and women's cross country, football, men's soccer, women's volleyball, wrestling and men's golf.

"I was very impressed with the record turnout we had today," said Peter Rackett, Class of 1961 and Executive Vice President of the Alumni Foundation. "What impresses me more is that this is the fourth straight year in which we have had sizeable increases in numbers."

Plebe Candidates Adam Klein '11 and Adeil Hunt '11 placed 446th and 457th respectively and least expected to play a big role in the Company Championship. Their efforts as the final two Class of 2011 finishers pushed Fourth Company into first place after it trailed by two minutes with the first seven male and first female Midshipmen combined times already computed.

Third Classman Gary Kuehn of Fourth Company and the men's cross country team captured the overall title in a time of 17:40.3, which bettered his time of 19:22.3 a year ago. First Classman and captain of the women's cross country team Callie Beeler easily outdistanced the women's field. She placed 13th overall in 19:33.2 which was almost a minute faster than last year. Beeler was the individual champion at the Skyline Championships in 2005 and 2006.

Geoff Boger of the Ship's Service was the first member of the Faculty/Staff Division to cross the finish line. Even though he did not accomplish his goal of beating Beeler, Boger did it in a personal best time of 19:47.7. Head Women's Crew Coach Liz O'Connell was the first female finisher in 24:35.7. Alumnus Dick Brooks '61 led his field and crossed the finish line in 25:26.9 while Laura Fulton '07 was the first alumna in 35:03.8.

The Commandant's Department ended the seven-year reign of the Athletic Department by winning the Faculty/Staff Division behind the efforts of former men's basketball player and ENS Jonathan Fassnacht (20:05.6), LCDR Eddie Ragin (22:16.6) and LT Ed Rexha (23:07.8).

A total of 226 Midshipmen beat the "gold-shirted" Commandant, Captain Bob Allee '68, to earn the Morale fund $2,260 and 53 First Classmen (seniors) finished in front of him to earn $530 towards their Ring Dance coming up in August. Additionally, Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach Tony Boston was pleased to see that the top eight males and top five females were all members of the cross country teams.

"I think it shows that the Academy is becoming more physically involved," said Rackett. "The students are taking more interest in staying fit and running. A 5k run in 85 degrees with humidity is not an easy event. It doesn't matter who you are."

In a day and age where the obesity rate is skyrocketing amongst the nation's youth, Rackett was excited to see how the Academy does not have this problem amongst its students, faculty and even alums. Saturday morning's 5k was a perfect way to prove that.

"You are not going to find any other college in America have over 500 kids turn out for a 5k run, especially at this time of year," said Rackett. "The most important things were everyone being out here, running as a Company and helping each other out. Even our people who were injured and couldn't run were part of the race. They were out on the course, supervising the course and handling the water tables. This was a full team effort from start to finish."

Prior to the race, the Academy held a moment of silence to honor alumnus and men's basketball letterwinner Skip Prosser '72 who passed away on Thursday.

The Alumni/Midshipmen 5k Race is always scheduled for the first Saturday morning after classes begin. With the number of participants substantially increasing every year, the goal will arguably be to get another record crowd at the 9th Annual Alumni-Midshipmen 5k Race in 2008.