CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- The University of Virginia men's and women's cross country teams both looked impressive in winning the team titles in their opening home hosted meet, the Lou Onesty Invitational. The Cavalier men won by a 39 point margin over second place Duke University, while their female counterparts took first by 22 points over a William & Mary women's squad not at full strength.

NCAA Nationals qualifier last fall as a freshmen, Virginia sophomore Emily Harrison looks to be on the right track to duplicate the same feat this season as she covered the Panorama Farms 5K course in a time of 17:44.23 to win by 12 seconds over Davidson College's Brenna Burns (17:56.34). Virginia freshmen and Pennsylvania high school star was a pleasant surprise in finishing second for the squad and seventh overall in 18:24.40. Kara Scanlin (9th, 18:31.62), Kristin Milot (10th, 18:35.21), and Katie Read (13th, 18:41.19) rounded out the Lady Cavs' top five, while Suzanne Ginnow (15th, 18:44.01), Jennifer Beury (16th, 18:45.15), and Laura Hodges (18:46.15) were not far behind to provide Coach Dunn's squad extra depth.

The William & Mary women ran without two of their top runners in Julia Cathcart and Kristyn Shiring. Despite their absences, the squad finished a strong second and there will be great parity with the Lady Tribe and the Lady Cavs once they are back in the mix. William & Mary's top finisher was junior Meghan Bishop as she crossed the line in fourth place with a 18:10.22 clocking. Rounding out Coach Newberry's top five scorers were some newer faces that obviously have shown vast improvements since last fall in sophomore Kaitlin Hurley (11th, 18:36), senior Tracy Williams (12th, 18:36.62), and sophomore Erin Prillaman (18th, 18:50.95) as well as Lake Braddock alum and freshmen Kelsey Snowden, who tuned in a fine collegiate debut race of 18:51.86 for 19th place honors.

The University of Richmond women's team finished a solid fourth place with 90 points as Amanda Russell (6th, 18:21.56) and freshmen Katie Van Horn (8th, 18:30.70) ran strong individual races to finish within the top ten.

The Univerity of Virginia men ran without two of their top runners in juniors Ryan Foster and Kevin McHale, but that did not stop the Hoos from putting on a clinic in their home invitational as put their entire top five in the top 12 places to garner a team score of 28 points. Cavs senior Soeren Linder, a NCAA Nationals qualifier a year ago in cross country, was the first finisher for the squad as Lindner earned runner-up honors with a swift 24:31.46 clocking. Lindner's teammates were not far behind him as Andrew Dumm finished right on his tail in third place with a time of 24:31.89. True freshmen and Foot Locker Finalist from Florida, Andy Biladeau ran sensational in his collegiate debut with a 24:34 clocking. Jeff Eggleston (7th, 24:42.73) and Alex Tatu (12th, 25:08.35) rounded out Coach Dunn's top five scorers. Running a few men down, UVA looked quite impressive and should get a better read on if they look to be a team NCAA Nationals bound in two weeks at Great American.

One national caliber team that the Cavs will get to lock up horns with at Great American is the Tribe of William & Mary, who raced at Lou Onesty, but sat out most of their runners that figure to be running on their "A" squad. Christo Landry, Jeff Hedley, Adam Tenerowicz, Matt Keally, and Jason Schoener were all missing in action for the Tribe, but Coach Gibby did have one of his top harriers in junior Keith Bechtol toe the line as Bechtol finished a respectable tenth place in 24:50.65. The remaining top five for the Tribe came in a wave with Dan Nally (15th, 25:16.56), Dave Mock (16th, 25:23.20), Matt Warco (17th, 25:24.65), and Kyle Pawlaczyk. One of the runners from that pack of William & Mary men may emerge and find themselves running on the team's "A" squad later this season. Coach Gibby's "B" squad certainly though looks pretty solid right now.

Winning the men's 8K race was Norfolk State University's David Kemboi. In his collegiate debut, the sophomore Kenyan blew away the talented field in winning away with a time of 24:21.84. The Kenyan heavy Norfolk State squad looked very impressive with their third place team showing as they were led by Kemboi. Fellow Kenyan, freshmen Hillary Cheruiyot took sixth place honors in a time of 24:38.64. The rest of the Kenyan delegation rounded out the Spartans' top five with Francis Kirong (20th, 25:30.95), Dominic Luka (31st, 25:57.40), and Cleophus Koros (55th, 26:53.85).

Two strong individual performances were found in the men's race from University of Richmond junior John Ciccarelli (5th, 24:38.32) and Virginia Commonwealth University sophomore Steven Walters (9th, 24:49.86) as the garnered top ten finishes and went under 25 minutes comfortably at Panorama.