SU women's cross country team repeats at Sea Gull Opener, men come in second
SALISBURY, Md. - Last year the Salisbury University women's cross country team won the Sea Gull Opener for the first time in nine years. This season the Sea Gulls came out and successfully defended their title on Saturday morning at Winter Place Park.

Junior Kelly Sullivan, the 2006 Capital Athletic Conference Runner of the Year, won the women's 6,000 meters (actual distance 5,920 meters) race for the second time in a year with a time of 22:52. Senior Casey McInerny finished three seconds off Sullivan's pace to place second. Fellow senior Zuzka O'Zwoldike received a top 10 finish when she crossed the line a minute off the winning pace at 23:59 (8th place). The final two scoring points came from freshman Kristin Stromberg (24:25, 16th place) and senior Lauren DePaul (24:47, 20th place). Ironically the Sea Gulls earned 47 team points, the same amount they had a year ago in the Sea Gull Opener.

Salisbury held off Christopher Newport University (50 points) who had three runners in the top nine spots. Messiah College finished third with 63 points followed by Wilmington College with 86 points.

On the men's side, the Sea Gulls improved on their performance from a year ago as the team earned 46 points, down 10 points from last year, in the 8,000 meters race. The end result was the same in '07 as the United State Naval Academy repeated as champion. The Midshipmen last year recorded a perfect score (15 points – sweeping the top five spots) but doubled that number today with 30 points. USNA had five runners finish in the top nine.

SU senior Eric Graves won the race with a time of 25:51. Graves' time was 35 seconds better then what he ran in last year's Sea Gull Opener. Junior Zach Dickerson finished fifth with a time of 26:44.

Salisbury seniors Buck Stokes (27:03, 11th place) and Carl Blickle (27:23, 15th place) along with freshman Chris Barnard (27:22, 14th place) rounded out the Sea Gull scoring. Messiah finished third in the men's race with 80 team points followed by Christopher Newport (94 points).

Salisbury will next participate in the Towson University Invitational next Saturday at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville, Md., at 10 a.m.

 Results: Men's Race (PDF) | Women's Race (PDF)