MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME CROSS COUNTRY

UMass Dartmouth Buddy Harris Invitational

Saturday, September 18, 2010

North Dartmouth, Mass.

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. --  Both Massachusetts Maritime cross country squads posted solid individual performances at the UMass Dartmouth Buddy Harris Invitational on Saturday afternoon, as the Buccaneer men placed 24^th out of 36 teams in the competition and the Buccaneer women posted a 37^th place team finish.

Freshman Brent Schouler (Hyannis, Mass.) led the way on the men’s side for the second straight week for Massachusetts Maritime, as he finished 106^th individually in a field of 272 competitors with a time of 27:16 over the 8K layout.  Senior Patrick Dannaher (Arlington, Va.) was next in 113^th place with a time of 27:25, while the trio of senior Paul Matz (Plainville, Mass.), freshman Kevin Griffin (Stoneham, Mass.) and sophomore Evan Balderelli (Brimfield, Mass.) rounded out the Buccaneer scoring by placing 155^th, 197^th and 244^th, respectively, with times of 28:26, 29:36 and 32:47.

Keene State took top team honors on the men’s side with a score of 73 points, edging out runner-up MIT (76 points) and third place finisher Brandeis (79 points).

On the women’s side, senior Meredith Hall (Duxbury, Mass.) made her season debut to lead the way for Massachusetts Maritime by placing 213^th in a field of nearly 300 competitors with a time of 22:30 over the %K layout, while freshman Elizabeth Leonardi (Sandwich, Mass.) was next in 235^th place with a time of 23:24.  Junior Samantha Foley (Sandwich, Mass.), freshman Lauren Bateman (Newbury, Mass.) and junior Julie Shebroe (Little Falls, N.J.) rounded out the Buccaneer scoring by placing 254^th, 270^th and 275^th, respectively, with times of 24:28, 26:20 and 27:51.

Wellesley claimed the team title on the women’s side with a score of 41 points, while MIT (45 points) and Keene State (93 points) finished in second and third place, respectively.

Both Buccaneer squads will head to Franklin Park in Boston next Saturday morning to compete in the UMass Boston Codfish Bowl Invitational, as the women’s 5K championship begins at 11:00 a.m. followed by the men’s 8K championship at 11:30 a.m.