Sept. 5, 2009
Results
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Led by Dominic DellaPelle's (So./Kennett Sqaure, Pa.) third-place effort, the Navy men's cross country team placed second out of seven teams at the season-opening UMES Invitational on Saturday morning.
Maryland won the invitational with a team score of 38 points, just six fewer than second-place Navy's 44 points. Norfolk State landed third with 47 points, followed by Wilmington's 133 points, UMES's 140 points, Hampton's 166 points and Delaware State's 168 points.
"We were able to finish second overall despite running without many of our top runners this weekend," stated Navy head coach Al Cantello. "I was very pleased to see two-to-three of our guys coming off injuries have a good race. They should be able to close the gap among our main scoring contingent."
DellaPelle crossed the finish line in 26:10.79 to finish third out of 52 runners - just 8.38 seconds behind individual champion Alex Lundy from Maryland.
Ross Hughes (Jr./Charlotte, N.C.) boasted the team's second-best time, eighth overall, with a 26:23.61 clocking. Patrick Quinn (Sr./Stafford, Va.) placed 10th with a 26:30.95 showing, followed by Dean Black's (Fr./Colorado Springs, Colo.) 11th-place time of 26:35.11 and Ricky Griffith's (Sr./Piedmont, Calif.) 12th-place clocking of 26:39.23.
The Midshipmen will return to action next Saturday when they host their lone home meet of the year, the Navy Invitational. The action at the USNA Cross Country Course begins with the junior varsity race at 10:30 a.m., followed by the varsity race at 11 a.m.
