Nov. 10, 2007

EASTON, Pa. - Meghan Braffet placed 17th overall to lead the University of Maryland finishers Saturday at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships hosted by Lehigh University.

The Maryland men and women each improved in the team standings from last season's performance. The Terrapin men finished ninth overall after placing 14th a year ago, with Greg Kelsey pacing Maryland with a 23rd-place finish individually.

Braffet and Kelsey each earned All-Region honors by virtue of their finish.

"This was our best meet of the year," said head coach Andrew Valmon. "We finished off the season very well and had two All-Region honorees."

Braffet helped the Terps women move from ninth a year ago to eighth on Saturday. She covered the 6-kilometer course Saturday in 20:47 to lead the Terrapins. She improved on her 23rd-place individual finish at last year's regionals.

Erin Matyus placed 40th for the Terrapins at 20:47, with Lindsay Ritchings in 63rd at 22:07, Angeli Sivaraman placing 75th in 22:20 and Kylynn McKinley as Maryland's fifth scorer in 89th at 22:33. Kristin Reed was 94th for the Terps in 22:42.

Junior Melissa Grelli of Georgetown was the individual winner, finishing in 19:50. She won by three seconds over Liz Costello of Princeton, with Marie-Louise Asselin of West Virginia in third.

Princeton won the team title on the women's side, placing five runners in the top 18 and scoring 56 points. West Virginia was second with 77 points, with Georgetown just behind at 79 points.

Braffet likely just missed earning an invitation to run as an individual at the NCAA Nationals on Nov. 19. The top two teams from each of nine regions, plus 13 at-large teams determined by the NCAA, will advance to nationals. The top four finishers at each region, not on an advancing team, will run as individuals at nationals.

Should the NCAA take third-place Georgetown as an at-large team on the women's side, Braffet would still be eighth among individuals not on advancing teams.

Kelsey finished the 10-kilometer course in 30:58 to lead the Terrapin men. Ben Diestel was 30th in 31:14, with Richie Booth placing 51st in 31:30. Joe Simpson was 64th in 31:49, with Kevin Gahr just behind to finish in the fifth spot for Maryland with a 67th-place finish, also in 31:49.

Mike Cator was 94th in 32:24 and Drew Abernathy finished 104th in 32:33.

Kelsey and Diestel, who have run at the top of the lineup for the men throughout the season, improved drastically on their finishes from a yaer ago. Kelsey was 57th overall last year at Lock Haven, while Distel was 78th.

The Mid-Atlantic Regionals completed the University of Maryland cross country season.

MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
1. Georgetown 42, 2. Villanova 70, 3. Princeton 74, 4. American 176, 5.Navy 184, 6. LaSalle 185, 7. Duquesne 204, 8. Penn State 232, 9. MARYLAND 235, 10. Penn 257, 11. Bucknell 339, 12. Lehigh 368, 12. St. Joseph's, Pa. 368, 14. Rider 413, 15. Delaware 435, 16. Pittsburgh 460, 17. Marshall 483, 18. Rutgers 512, 19. UMBC 532, 20. Loyola, Md. 547, 21. George Washington 593, 22. Seton Hall 655, 23. Monmouth 668, 24. UMES 675, 25. Temple 678, 26. Lafayette 802, 27. Longwood 803, 28. St. Peter's 927.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Top-five and Maryland finishers)
1. Robert Curtis, Villanova, 30:08, 2. Matt Debole, Georgetown, 30:18, 3. Andrew Bumbalough, Georgetown 30:24, 4. Dave Nightingale, Princeton, 30:24, 5. Brendan Fennell, American, 30:25... 23. Greg Kelsey, Maryland, 30:58; 30. Ben Diestel, Maryland, 31:14; 51. Richie Booth, Maryland, 31:30; 64. Joe Simpson, Maryland, 31:49; 67. Kevin Gahr, Maryland, 31:49; 94. Mike Cator, Maryland, 32:24; 104. Drew Abernathy, Maryland, 32:33.

WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
1. Princeton 56, 2. West Virginia 77, 3. Georgetown 79, 4. Penn State 93, 5. Villanova 115, 6. Penn 185, 7. LaSalle 248, 8. MARYLAND 275, 9. Bucknell 314, 10. Navy 332, 11. Duquesne 347, 12. Delaware 375, 13. Pittsburgh 398, 14. Towson 420, 15 .Rutgers 452, 16. Monmouth 464, 17. St. Joseph's, Pa. 467, 18. George Washington 470, 19. Lehigh 537, 20. Loyola, Md. 556, 21. UMES 558, 22. Rider 626, 23. St. Francis, Pa. 659, 24. Seton Hall 662, 25. Lafayette 671, 26. Robert Morris 678. 27, Marshall 691, 28. Longwood 747.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Melissa Grelli, Georgetown, 19:50; 2. Liz Costello, Princeton, 19:58; 3. Marie-Louise Asselin, West Virginia, 20:00; 4. Bridget Franek, Penn State, 20:13; 5. Christy Johnson, Princeton, 20:18... 17. Meghan Braffet, Maryland, 20:47; 40. Erin Matyus, Maryland, 21:37; 63. Lindsay Ritchings, Maryland, 22:07; 75. Angeli Sivaraman, Maryland, 22:20; 89. Kylynn McKinley, Maryland, 22:33; 94. Kristin Reed, Maryland, 22:42.