DURHAM, N.H. – UMBC junior Brandan
McGee (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) finished seventh overall,
earning all-conference honors, and the UMBC men's cross country
team took third place, Saturday morning at the America East
Championships at College Woods. It was the highest finish for the
men since winning the America East championship in
2005. The UMBC women's team took eighth place behind
junior Cody Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South
Carroll).
McGee led the way for the men's team for the fourth time this
season, finishing the 8K race in 25:55.64, less than a minute
behind race winner Eric Speakman of
Stony Brook. The Retrievers also received strong
performances from Tom
Eldridge (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) and Eric
Schuler (Columbia, Md./Reservoir) whom finished 15th and
16th, respectively, to jump the squad from an eighth place finish
at last year's championships.
Junior Jake
Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley) and
freshman Hassan
Omar (Frederick, Md./Thomas Johnson) rounded out the
scoring for the Black and Gold, placing 19th and 20th.
For the women, Mezebish was once again the top-dog, finishing
33rd overall with a season-best 5K time of 18:21.16. Her
time is nearly a 1:40 improvement from her other 5K time this year
(20:00.56) at the Towson Invitational.
Junior Kirsten McGovern (Sykesville, Md./Century),
sophomore Julie Gessler (Ellicott City, Md./Institute
of Notre Dame), and freshman Nicole
Dawson (Jessup, Md./Hammond) all finished less than half a
minute later placing 43rd, 45th, and 47th,
respectively. Sophomore Alyse
Gibson (Columbia, Md./Reservoir) rounded out the scoring for
the Retrievers.
Stony Brook won the overall men's race with 61 points behind
Speakman's win, just seven points ahead of meet host New
Hampshire. UMBC's 77 points earned the squad third place
with Albany (102), Maine (132), Binghamton (134), Vermont (149),
and Hartford (175) completing the standings.
The Seawolves swept the competition by winning the women's race
as each of their five scoring runners finished in the
top-12. UNH's Keely Maguire won the race in a time of
16:33.48 to give the Wildcats second place, nine points behind
Stony Brook. Vermont (66), Albany (108), Binghamton
(155), Maine (157), Hartford (185), and UMBC (197) followed.
UMBC now has 13 days off from competition before heading to Penn
State for the NCAA Regionals on Friday, Nov. 9.
