UMBC

Albany, N.Y. – The UMBC men’s and women’s cross country squads put together strong performances in the Retrievers’ inaugural America East Cross Country Championships as the men’s team took fourth place and the women’s team finished seventh at the University of Albany’s cross country course on Saturday afternoon.  The men’s team saw Greg Saylor grab the last top-10 spot leading the men’s team to a team score of 114 as the women, who finished with a team score of 154, were once again led by Stephanie Thomas, who took home her own top-10 finish, crossing the line as the ninth best women’s competitor. 

Saylor set the pace for the Retriever men, completing the 8k trek in 25:49 for 10^th overall.  Teammates Adam Driscoll and Izudin Mehmedovic placed 22^nd and 23^rd respectively as Driscoll put together a time of 26:27 with Mehmedovic four seconds behind at 26:31.  Freshman Shawn Shokry grabbed 25^th with a time of 26:39 and J.J Wetzel rounded out the Retriever scoring with a 34^th place finish at 27:18. 

Thomas completed the 5k women’s course in 18:22 to take ninth place.  Senior Yasmin Fields captured 16^th place with a time of 18:43 and Cara Wettlaufer scored a 26^th place finish with a time of 19:02.  Rounding out the Retriever scoring for the women’s team was Britta Nelson crossing the line in 19:37 for 49^th overall and Jazzmon Morgan at 20:10 for 57^th. 

The University of New Hampshire won both the America East Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships as the Wildcat men won their third-straight conference championship while the women ended Boston University’s seven-year run as champion.

Boston University’s Jochen Dieckfoss, who covered the 8K course in 24:50, became the second four-time individual champion in the 16-year history of the men’s championship. Dieckfoss, who established a course record and ran the 11th fastest time in history, joined former Terrier Karl Rasmussen, who won from 1993-95 and again in 1997, as the only individuals to win in each of their four collegiate seasons.

The New Hampshire men were bolstered by Anthony Truax (24:43), Stephen Meinelt (24:56) andTim Perry (25:48) who finished second, third, and ninth, respectively to lead the Wildcats to a team score of 40. Albany, led by Andy Allstadt, who finished fifth with a time of 25:10, was second with a team score of 64. Boston University followed with 74. UMBC was fourth with a score of 114. Maine was fifth with 115. Stony Brook, which saw Dale Summerville (25:10) finish fourth, was sixth with a team score of 145. Binghamton (201), Vermont (222), Northeastern (234) and Hartford (295) rounded out the field.

The New Hampshire women placed three of the top five runners en route to a team score of 42. Stony Brook University, led by individual champion Jackie Nunez, who covered the 5K course in 17:31, was second with a team score of 70. Albany was third with 112, followed by Boston University with 116 and Binghamton University with 117. University of Vermont, led by Michele Palmer’s fourth-place individual finish in a time of 18:11, was sixth with team score of 131. UMBC was seventh with a score of 154, followed by University of Maine (155), Northeastern University (176) and University of Hartford (325).