Mary Washington senior Liz Green sprinted down the stretch through the snow to win the individual title, and Salisbury placed five scorers in the top 18 runners to clinch its fourth-straight team title at the 2011 CAC Women's Cross Country Championships.
Led by seniors Becca Stinner (third), Anna Steinman (sixth) and freshman Hailey Spinapont (fifth), Salisbury won the team title with 47 points. The three-time defending champions were the only team with three finishers among the Top 10 in the race, run in the falling snow at John Rudy Park in York, Pa.
The top three runners secured the lead for the Sea Gulls, but the next three Salisbury runners clinched the championship. Senior Emily Powell (16th), sophomore Emma Bahneman (18th) and freshman Jade LeBrock (19th) all crossed the finish line within a second of each other to help Salisbury defeat second-place Mary Washington (57 pts.) and York (58 pts.) for the team trophy.
Salisbury coach Jim Jones was named the CAC Coach of the Year for the third-straight season and the fifth time since 2004.
The Eagles placed second for the fourth-straight year, thanks in part to Green's individual title. The UMW senior and ran with frontrunning Frostburg State senior Anne Patron throughout the 6,000-meter chase. Patron finished second after placing third in the 2010 CAC Championship.
Green was able to outsprint Patron to the finish line on the way to becoming the fourth UMW runner in the last five years, and the 11th in the 21-year history of the championship, to earn the CAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year award.
The CAC Rookie of the Year award was presented to Hood freshman Gretchen Whitesell, the Blazers' top runner who crossed the finish line eighth Saturday. Whitesell is the first Hood athlete to be named the CAC Rookie of the Year, and led the Blazers to a fourth-place finish in the team standings - the highest in team history.
Joining Green, Patron, Stinner, Spinapont and Steiner on the first-team All-CAC squad were York senior Mandy Parshall, the 2010 CAC individual champion who finished fourth this year, and Mary Washington's Hannah Somers, who finished seventh.
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