The AU men's and women's cross country teams opened their season last Friday with a strong showing at the Mt. St. Mary's Duals, where they captured all of the individual titles.
The men's team finished 3-1 on the day, which was highlighted by senior Dan Beardslee's first-place individual finish in the 5k. Beardslee won the race by a four-second margin to take his second collegiate title.
"Dan looked stronger every mile," said head coach Matt Centrowitz in an interview with AUEagles.com on Friday evening. "He was up front with the leaders for most of the race then pulled away with ease in the last mile."
The Eagles had an impressive showing in the race, with senior Dustin Emrani and sophomore Brandon Laks finishing fifth and sixth respectively with times of 16:27 and 16:31. Gregory Leach and Alex Cuadana also grabbed points for AU, finishing 15th and 16th respectively, while sophomore Jacob Shelley rounded out the top 20 with his finish of 17:11.
The men cruised to a second-place finish overall in the four-team field, falling only to Mt. St. Mary's. Loyola and George Washington finished third and fourth respectively.
The AU women easily lapped their competition, sweeping the top three spots in their race. Freshman Kate Lilley blew away the field with a time of 18:57, winning by 43 seconds for her first collegiate title. Sophomore Meghan Mason finished second with a time of 19:40, while junior Cathleen Ford took third with 19:52. Freshman Danielle Loughrey and senior Ashley Dellinger finished 17th and 21st, respectively.
"The girls showed a lot of confidence going to the front before the first mile and just running away with it," Centrowitz said of the Eagles' first-place finish.
The Eagles next compete this Saturday at the Great Meadows Invitational in Virginia.
