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News Release

UMBC Cross Country Set to Compete at America East Championships

10/26/2007


Senior Alex Hyland will be looking for individual gold at the America East Championships this weekend.

STONY BROOK, N.Y.—The UMBC men’s and women’s cross country teams are set to compete in the 2007 America East Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Stony Brook University with the women’s 5K race slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. and the men’s 8K at 11:30 a.m.

 

All nine schools will compete in Saturday’s race, with defending men’s champion New Hampshire and defending women’s champion Boston University both favored to win according to a preseason coaches’ poll.

 

The Retrievers will be looking to improve upon their sixth place finish on the men’s side and eighth place finish on the women’s side from 2006 and look to have strong contenders for individual titles in senior Alex Hyland (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South/St. Francis (Pa.)) and junior captain Anthony Kelhower (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape). 

 

This will by Hyland’s first trip to the America East Championships after joining the Retrievers during the indoor track and field season in the 2006-07 season.  The St. Francis (Pa.) transfer has made an immediate impact on the Retriever women’s squad, leading the team across the line in all four of their previous races this season.  Most recently, Hyland claimed the individual title for the 6K course at the William and Mary Tribe Open and posted one of the fastest times in UMBC history one race prior, running a time of 21:58.00 in the Paul Short Invitational 6K.

 

Sophomore Suzanne Gabriel (Falls Church, Va./McLean) returns as the top Retriever finisher from last year’s conference championships, as she turned in a 36th place finish with a time of 18:59.60 for the 5K in her conference debut, ranking second for the Retrievers.

 

Senior captain Tawny Barin (Columbus, N.J./North Burlington County) was the third Retriever to cross the line in ’06, running a time of 19:25.90 for 46th place, while sophomore Mairin Leahy (Taneytown, Md./Francis Scott Key) rounded out the scoring five with a time of 19:50.00, good for 54th place.

 

Junior exchange student Suzanne Richards (Backwell, England/Longborough University) will also figure to be an impact for the Retrievers this weekend, as she has held the Retrievers’ second-fastest times for the only two meets she has competed in this season.

 

On the men’s side, the Retrievers return an All-Conference selection in Kelhower, who finished ninth at last year’s conference race, running an 8K time of 25:08.60.  None of the rest of the Retriever scoring five from 2006 return for the 2007 race, but a host of new talent, and veterans, led by freshman Paul Zwama (Groningen, Netherlands/CSG Dingstede) will give Kelhower a challenge for the top Retriever spot this year.

 

Zwama has been the first Retriever across the line in three of the past four meets and looks to be on track for a great performance this weekend as he has improved in each outing this season.  Junior Andrew Madison (Edgewater, Md./South River) will also look to be a contender this year after finishing as the sixth Retriever with a time of 26:52.40 for 53rd place at last year’s conference meet.

 

Madison finished as the top Retriever once during this season, as he turned in a time of 25:37.50 to lead the Retrievers across the line at the Navy Invitational.  The time also bested Madison’s previous personal best for an 8K, which was set at last year’s conference championships by over one full minute.

 

Full results and recap will be posted on umbcretrivers.com when they become available.