Sea Gulls wage battle at Gettysburg; men place third, women seventh

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Salisbury University men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Gettysburg College on Saturday morning to compete in the Gettysburg Invitational, and both teams fared extremely well. Of the 25 teams which competed in the meet, Salisbury's men placed third and the women placed seventh overall.

Senior Chris Barnard had the Sea Gulls' top finish of the day. His 8K time of 26:15 earned him a fifth place finish, just ahead of teammate Ryan Jackson's 12th-place time of 26:37. The third Sea Gull to crack the top 25 was sophomore Steve Berstler, who finished in 26:58 to place 24th overall; juniors Trent Seawell (39th place) and Trevor Keen (46th place) rounded out scoring for Salisbury, posting times of 27:21 and 27:29, respectively.

The women's side also saw great success, with its top five runners all finishing within 47 seconds of each other. Senior Kristin Stromberg was the first of that five-pack, crossing the finish line of the 6K course in a mere 24:30 to earn a 31st-place finish. Junior Becca Stinner followed, finishing 40th after posting a time of 24:46; freshman Amy Ferro, who placed 52nd overall with a time of 25:01, was Salisbury's third runner to complete the course. Only two seconds separated junior Emily Powell (60th place) and sophomore Anna Steinman (64th place), the fourth and fifth Sea Gulls to soar across the finish line, as Powell completed the course in 25:11 and Steinman in 25:13.

The Sea Gulls have exactly one week to prepare for their next meet, the Battle for the Buggy Invitational in Lancaster, Pa., on Oct. 23. Salisbury's third and final home contest, the Capital Athletic Conference Championships, will take place on Nov. 6 at Winterplace Park. Both meets are slated to begin at 11 a.m.