Oct. 15, 2011
NEWARK, Del. - Julie Fricke and Ashley Cromartie dominated the women's race Saturday, finishing more than a minute faster than the rest of the field in leading the University of Maryland to the team title at the Blue & Gold Cross Country Meet hosted by Delaware.
On the men's side, freshman Kikanae Punyua finished second overall in his first race of the season and five Maryland scorers placed in the top nine as the Terrapins won the team title by scoring only 26 points.
Fricke earned her first individual cross country victory as a collegian by running 22:10.40 over the 6-kilometer course. She beat Cromartie by 31 seconds, but those two held an 80-second gap over third-place finisher Lindsay Prettyman of Delaware.
Senior Halsey Sinclair was fourth overall in 24:09.42, with sophomore Caitlin Orr earning her first top-10 finish for the Terps by placing ninth at 24:35.82. Freshman Maeve McCoy was the fifth Maryland finisher, going 25:25.10 to finish 19th.
Maryland had all five of its finishers place in the top 20, with four in the top 10 and three in the top four. The Terrapins scored 33 points to edge the host Blue Hens, who had 38. Mount St. Mary's was third with 87 points.
Punyua, a Terrapin freshman originally from Nairobi, Kenya, made the most of his collegiate debut. A prep All-American, Punyua went 26:07.13 over the 8K course, finishing behind only Andy Weaver of the Delaware TC, who won the individual title in 25:58.65.
The Terrapins finished second, third, fifth, seventh and ninth in scoring their lowest point total in some time. Maryland outscored the Delaware TC, 26-52, with Mount St. Mary's in third with 73.
Noam Neeman, a senior transfer from Israel, was third for the Terrapins in 26:10.47, while freshman Nick Regan was fifth in 26:50.59, finishing in the No. 3 spot for the second straight event.
Junior Brian Faherty was seventh (27:27.69), earning his first top-10 finish as a collegian. Freshman Theo Dorsman was ninth in 27:44.55 and sophomore Cory Puffett was 12th in 28:02.84.
Maryland competes next on Oct. 29 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at Clemson.