ANNAPOLIS, Md. - UMBC cross country squads placed fourth against
very strong fields at Navy on Saturday. The men competed in
the Navy Invitational, while the women were a part of the Salty Dog
Invitational. Both of head coach Matt Gittermann's squads were
competing for the second time in the span of eight days.
On the women's side, UMBC was led by Nicole Dawson (Jessup,
Md./Hammond), who earned a top-20 finish by placing 16th
in the Salty Dog Invitational. The sophomore completed the 6k event
in a time of 21:58.88. Dawson just edged Retriever senior Cody
Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South Carroll ), who finished 18th at
22:00.77.
Freshman Sarah Zielinski (Boonsboro, Md./Boonsboro) also earned
a top-20 position, crossing in 20th place in a time of 22:11.12.
Junior Sarah Daly (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) earned the 25 th
position overall (22:20.64), while junior Julie Gessler (Ellicott
City, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) was two spots behind
(22:33.19).
Host Navy (38 points) edged Maryland (49) and American (58) for
the title. UMBC placed fourth with 106 points, ahead of Loyola
(Md.) (113), George Washington (171) and Howard (219).
Navy's Annie-Norah Beveridge won the event in a time of
20:46.23.
On the men's side, UMBC's top five runners all crossed the line
within 30 seconds of one another. Sophomore Hassan Omar
(Frederick, Md./Thomas Johnson) paced the Retrievers, finishing
11th in the field and completing the 8k run in 24:54.90.
Senior Jake Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley) also
placed in the top 20, earning 17th position, in a time
of 25:07.39.
The next three Retrievers finished back-to-back-to-back, led by
junior Eric Schuler (Columbia, Md./Reservoir). Schuler, who paced
UMBC in its victory at the America East Pre-Conference Meet on
Sept. 7, crossed in 20th position in a time of 25:11.81.
Senior Andrew Smith (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) placed 21st in
a time of 25:18.89, and sophomore Redatu Semeon (Waldorf,
Md./Thomas Stone) finished in 22nd position at 25:24.27.
National power Georgetown placed five runners in the top eight
and won the meet with 26 points. Host Navy placed second with 37
points, followed by American (83), UMBC (91), Howard (183), George
Washington (186), Loyola (Md.) (194), Catholic (241) and Bowie
State (252).
Navy sophomore Stephen Schroeder won the meet in a time of
23:55.69.
Both squads return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 when they
compete at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa.
