Sept. 12, 2009
Results | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy women's cross country rookie Brigid Byrne (Fr./Vienna, Va.) placed 14th overall to lead the Midshipmen to a third-place finish out of eight teams in the Salty Dog Open on Saturday morning on the USNA Cross Country Course.
Georgetown produced the four-fastest times to win the team title with 17 points, followed by Johns Hopkins's 69 points and Navy's 96 points. UMBC placed fourth with 125 points, followed by George Washington's 138 points, American's 152 points, Loyola's 160 points and Mount St. Mary's 201 points.
"Georgetown and Johns Hopkins both ran very smart and strong races today," stated Navy head coach Karen Boyle. "I was satisfied with our solid 18-second pack and we have to keep working throughout the season."
Byrne, the Patriot League Rookie of the Week, led all Navy runners across the finish line with a time 23:32.88 to place 14th out of the 109 runners on Saturday.
"Brigid has a lot of talent," said Boyle. "I'm very proud of her focus, especially considering it's her plebe year and this was her first 6k race. She was able to pace herself well and had great mental toughness."
Katie Rentz (Jr./San Diego, Calif.) soon followed Byrne across the finish line with a 23:34.88 clocking to place 16th overall. Annie Barry (Fr./Crestwood, Ky.) finished 19th with a time of 23:39.15, followed by Anna Bernal's (Sr./Bonaire, Ga.) 23:49.79 showing for 24th place and team captain Erica Ziel (Sr./Saginaw, Mich.) rounded out the scoring with a 25th-place time of 23:50.96.
The Midshipmen will return to action next Saturday when they head up to Hamilton, N.Y., to compete at the Colgate Invitational. Race time is scheduled for 11 a.m.
