It was a good day for the Howard Community College cross country team at the Hood College Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15. The Dragons men and women took home a fifth and seventh place team standing, respectively, in a field of 14 colleges and were the top community college at the meet.
"Overall it was a pretty good day for the programs," said coach Steve Musselman. "All the students were very competitive and we saw some positive improvements."
Corey Young continued to lead the HCC men, placing 15th with a time of 27 minutes, 23 seconds in the five-mile race. Abraham Samuel (31st, 28:09), Ryan Clocker (37th, 28:25), Scott Camp (39th, 28:34), Garrett Birsa (50th, 28:56), Nick Miguelino (88th, 31:50) and Andrew Kastner (95th, 32:25) followed for the Dragons.
Young was also named NJCAA D-III Men's Runner of the Week after his solid performance at Utica Park on Saturday.
Abbey Starks led the HCC women's team, crossing 15th overall in the 6k race with a time of 24 minutes, 51 seconds. Teammates Amani Jones (25:10), Brenda Rosas (25:49), Brittany Nixon (30:47) and Kirsten Murrill (31:13) weren't too far behind, placing 18th, 32nd, 94th and 99th overall, respectively.
The Dragons postseason begins on Oct. 22 at Lake Fairfax Regional Park in Reston Virginia, as their men and women will compete in the Region XX/MD JUCO Championships. The men will try defending its Region XX/MD JUCO crown, with their race starting at 11 a.m., while the women's race begins at 10 a.m.