University of Maryland Eastern Shore men and women’s cross-country teams had solid showings at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional held this past weekend. The men’s team took 24th overall while the women finished 21st. UMES, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Champions for both men and women were the only full MEAC squads to compete in the regional.

The Lady Hawks posted 558 points, just two shy of 20th place Loyola (Md.). Princeton, who won the event, tallied just 56 points while second place West Virginia had 79 and third place Georgetown posted 79.

The men’s team tallied 675 points, seven points out of 23rd. Georgetown won the race with 42 points while Villanova was second with 70 points and Princeton was third with 74.

On the women’s side Merrecia James, the MEAC Most Outstanding Performer, took 48th with a personal best time of 21:50 on the 6K course. Tamica Thomas was also in the top 100 of the 197 runner field, taking 92nd with a time of 22:44. Celia Whyte was 135th, Betty Chumbe was 140th and Janeth Chelangat was 143rd. Tiffany Webb was the Hawk’s sixth runner, finishing 187th.

On the men’s side Peter Sang was 56th with a time of 31:43 while Amon Kiprotich was 116th with a time of 33:00 minutes flat on the 10K course. Solomon Kirongo was 163rd, Clayton James was 167th, Nathaniel Taylor was 173rd, Samuel Mwangi was 180th and Jerome Pyuzza was 185th out of 201 total runners.

UMES will now begin focusing on the indoor track & field season, one where both the men and women took second place in the MEAC last year. They look to improve on that finish this year. Their first meet is December 8th when they host the Lid Lifter Invitational at home in the Hytche Center.