Parkinson Wins Mount St. Mary’s 5Ks

Sara Parkinson opened the 2010 season with a first place finish at the Mount St. Mary's Dual 5Ks. (Courtesy UMBC Athletic Communications)

It seems like Sara Parkinson has been a senior forever, and well, she has been. Parkinson was granted an extra year of eligibility after the last two season, and UMBC’s cross country team has really benefited from it.

Last year Parkinson finished second at the meet, but this year she improved her time by 37 seconds and crossed the line first overall in 17:47.47, which was 18 seconds faster than last year’s winner Octavia Rinehardt of American University.

Junior Keri Wilson was the second Retriever to cross the finish line. She finished 10th overall in a time of 19:51.69, which was six sports better than last year.

Laura Blevins finished the race in 20:59.50 for 23rd place and Cortney Crouse (21:19.28) and freshman Cody Mezebish (22:01.07) rounded out the scoring five with 26th and 34th place finishes, respectively.

The team finished 2-4 overall in their dual meet and placed fifth overall out of seven teams. Their wins came over George Washington (20-37) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (23-32).