By Rebecca Olsen
Contributing Writer
The men’s and women’s cross country teams have been hard at work so far this season, and are two meets into their four week season.
The first meet of the season was the Mount 5K Duals on Aug. 29 hosted by Mount St. Mary’s University. UMBC, Navy, American and the host team Mount St. Mary’s competed in the race. Senior Sarah Daly placed first in the meet, running a 17:50.98 which scored the Retrievers a point towards their final score.
Junior Sophia Cologer placed fourth, running an 18:12.23 and also scoring a point for the Retrievers. The men’s cross country team also did well as junior Austin Hayslett ran a 15:28.08 and placed fourth in the meet.
Fellow juniors Jonathan Luckin and Hassan Omar placed fifth and sixth respectfully, with times of 15:29.49 and 15:34.96. Both Luckin and Omar scored points towards the Retrievers final score. The women’s team placed second in the meet and the men’s team tied with Navy for first place.
The Salty Dog Invitational held by the U.S Naval Academy on Sept. 13 was the cross country team’s second meet of the season. There were 11 teams competing that day and the men’s team placed third overall with the women’s team placing fourth.
Senior Sarah Daly placed ninth out of 135 female runners with a time of 22:51.33 and fellow teammate junior Sophia Cologer placed 11 with a time of 23:05.76. Back in 2013 the Retrievers also placed fourth at this invitational.
Junior Hassan Omar of the men’s team placed 11 overall at this invitational with a time of 25:06.35. Senior Eric Schuler was the second Retriever to finish with a time of 25:30.95 which earned him 14 place. Overall both the men’s and women’s teams did well at the Salty Dog Invitational.
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams have made a promising start to their season. The next meet for the Retrievers is the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University on Oct. 4. Be on the lookout for another good meet for senior Sarah Daly and junior Hassan Omar.