Maryland Eastern Shore men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the 2009 season with the Lid Lifter Invitational Saturday morning at the UMES cross country course.
Both teams started slow as the men placed fifth overall with 142 points and the women also placed fifth with a score of 140.
Maryland won both the men's and women's races with scores of 38 and 21 points, respectively. Alex Lundy placed first for UM in the men's 8K course with a time of 26:02.41 while his female counterpart, Kristin Reed, took first at 18:20.59 on the 3.1 mile/5K course.
Following UM on the men's side was the United States Naval Academy with 44 points, Norfolk State (47 points), Wilmington (133 points), UMES (142 points), Hampton (166 points) and Delaware State (168 points).
West Virginia women's team placed second behind UM with a total of 50 points. St.
Joseph's was third with 59 points, Wilmington fourth with 127 points, UMES fifth with 142 points, Delaware State was sixth with 158 points and Norfolk State only raced four, so had an incomplete score.
Junior Amon Kiprotich was the highest UMES men's finisher, in 18th place out of 52 with a time of 27:08.42. Teammate Shadrack Maritim a sophomore, was close behind at 27:31.95 which was good for 23rd place. Senior Peter Sang placed 28th with a time of 28:21.93 while fellow senior Solomon Kirongo was 40th in 30:08.29. Junior Jermol Dix had a time of 29:53.33 and senior Paul Jones-Burden went 39:54.04 which was good for 50th and 51st places, respectively.
Senior Tamica Thomas finished in a time of 20:37.74, good for 29th overall out of 62 in the women's race. Sophomore Cynthia Anais and junior Eunice Jones finished 40th and 43rd with respective times of 21:25.52 and 21:36.28. Sophomore Jessica Abrantes had a time of 23:49.85, which was good for 52nd place. Freshman Kenesha Abrams, running in her first collegiate race, finished 54th with a time of 23:58.81. Fellow freshmen Jennel Wade and Courtney Gray finished 60th and 62nd with respective times of 26:40.75 and 29:13.87. Senior Tiffany Webb ran a time of 27:15.78, good for 61st place.
Both teams travel to Hunt Valley, Md. on Saturday, Sept. 12 for the Towson Invitational.