CNU men and women dominate competition Mason-Dixon

WILLIAMSBURG, VA -- Today was a good day to be a member of the CNU men's and women's cross country teams as both teams came away with team titles at the Mason-Dixon Conference Championships held in Williamsburg. Also, CNU senior Aimee Gibbs and freshmen Brandon Miles earned individual conference titles.

The CNU women did a first in team history, beat Mary Washington College and they did just that in impressive fashion. Aimee Gibbs took the lead early and never looked back as she ran away with the individual conference title by a wide margin with her time of 22:41. Her finish was not so much a surprise compared to the races from the next four CNU finishers. Emily Low (2nd, 23:39), Megan Fogarty (3rd, 23:33), and Ashley Ezell (4th, 23:37) outdistanced the rest of the competition and finished in a cluster to take the next three places after Gibbs to earn Mason-Dixon All-Conference honors. Senior Alicia Burns stepped it up big time in her final Mason-Dixon race with a sixth place finishing time of 24:25. Sophomore Elizabeth Browning also earned All-Conference honors with her 13th place finishing time of 25:02. Taking five of the first six positions, Christopher Newport women nearly perfect scored the meet with their team total of 16 points and finished well ahead of second place Mary Washington College with 52 points.

Aimee Gibbs was honored with the Mason-Dixon Championship Outstanding Female Athlete Award and assistant coach George Seward was named 2003 Women's Coach of the Year.

The CNU men were expected to be in for a close battle with Salisbury University, but that battle never materialized as the Captains had seven runners earn All-Conference honors. Leading the way were freshmen Brandon Miles and Cary Chaffee with a one-two finish for CNU. Miles and Chaffee shared the lead for the first mile and a half with Salisbury's Tristan Gilbert (3rd, 26:57), but soon dropped Gilbert thereafter. Miles and Chaffee had many lead exchanges for the rest of the race, until Miles took the lead shortly after the four mile mark and kept it. Miles put forth a strong finish to take the conference title in a time of 26:36. Chaffee was not too far behind in a solid runner-up finish with his time of 26:49. Despite the strong race performances by the two freshmen stars Miles and Chaffee, the CNU men's win would have not been possible if it was not for the races brought forth by the Captains' upperclassmen. Senior Sean Smith (4th, 27:02), junior David Baer (5th, 27:03), and junior Jimmy Highsmith (7th, 27:11) rounded out a stellar top five for CNU to earn All-Conference honors individually. Junior Nate Wallace (11th, 27:30), freshmen Tim Scott (12th, 27:36), and junior Jason Berry (15th, 27:47) added extra depth to the team with top fifteen All-Conference finishes. The CNU men finished with a team total of 19 points as Salisbury took runner-up honors with 55 points.

Brandon Miles, merely a freshmen, received the Mason-Dixon Championship Outstanding Male Athlete Award and head coach Keith Maurer was honored as 2003 Men's Coach of the Year.