UMBC

Sophomore Paul Zwama led the Retrievers across the line, finishing in fourth place at the Mount St. Mary's Dual 5K's.

EMMITSBURG, Md.—The UMBC men’s and women’s cross country team began the 2008 season at the Mount St. Mary’s Dual 5K’s on Friday. The men finished with four runners in the top eight and were victorious with a 5-0 record, while the women ended the day with a record of 0-5-1.

This year, the competition included American, Temple, Mount St. Mary’s, George Washington, and the University of Maryland in both races while Navy also competed on the women’s side.

The men’s closest margin on the day was six, defeating both the Eagles and the Terps 25-31. The Retrievers also defeated the Colonials 15-49, the Owls 20-39 and the Mount, 16-42.

Sophomore Paul Zwama (Groningen, Netherlands/CSG Dingstede) led the Retrievers across the line, finishing in a time of 16:18.66, in fourth place.

UMBC finished sixth, seventh and eighth individually as senior Anthony Kelhower (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) scored second for the team with a time of 16:20.87, followed right behind by senior Josh Okoniewski (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) at 16:21.85 and senior Andrew Madison (Edgewater, Md./South River) clocking in at 16:24.52.

Sophomore Michael Christmas (Invercargill, New Zealand/James Hargest College) rounded out the scoring five for the Retrievers, finishing in 16th place with a time of 16:39.64.

On the women’s side, junior Suzanne Gabriel (Falls Church, Va./McLean) led UMBC across the line with a time of 19:48.38,  finishing in 13th place overall.

The women’s team tied George Washington at 28, but fell to American, Maryland, Navy, Temple and Mount St. Mary’s by scores of 28-29, 19-40, 15-50, 25-31, 24-31, respectively.

Freshman Keri Wilson followed Gabriel, finishing in 44th place in a time of 22:07.89 and sophomore Cortney Crouse (Union Bridge, Md./Linganore) was third for the Retrievers, finishing in 45th place in 22:11.13.

Junior Sarah Murphy (Dover, Del./Dover) and senior Emily Saltsman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) rounded out the scoring five for UMBC, finishing in 49th and 53rd place, respectively, with times of 22:43.47 and 23:04.20.

Navy’s women came out on top with a perfect 6-0 record.

The Retrievers return to competition on Sept. 13, when they travel to Annapolis, Md. for the Navy Invitational, which begins at 10 a.m.