ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Loyola University Maryland's Christina Daniels finished 10^th in the women's race Saturday at the U.S. Naval Academy's Salty Dog Invitational as she and Patrick Cropsey again led the Greyhounds' men's and women's cross country teams in race action.
 
Daniels was the top finisher for Loyola on the women's side, covering the 6,000-meter run in 23:46.70 to help the Greyhounds to a fifth-place finish. Cropsey, meanwhile, ran his first 8,000-meter race as a collegian and took 17^th on the men's side, two spots ahead of freshman classmate Jake Fowler; Cropsey ran 27:37.13, while Fowler finished in 27:53.03.
 
Alex Buchholz ran third for the Loyola men, placing 23^rd with a time of 28:47.83, and Spencer Askine moved up in the Greyhounds' order to take 25^th and fourth on the team in 29:10.
  Tyler Schoch was the final scorer for the Loyola men in 27^th (29:47.80). He led a quartet of Greyhounds that crossed the line in succession. Nathan Galloway was 28^th (30:21.99), Peter Butler took 29^th (30:55.77), and Brandon Rossi was 30^th (31:05.33). Robert Eskridge ran 33^rd in 33:52.99.
 
"Our men were led by our strong freshman, and this was their first 8k (kilometer) race," said Amy Horst, Loyola's head coach. "Navy's course is always a challenging spot to do that, and I'm impressed with their mental approach. They know they need to assist one another better in racing to make moves forward and are working on that each day in practice. Spencer Askine really made a great move in the team positon today and Patrick Cropsey again led the team with a strong performance."
 
On the women's side, Kayleigh Caggiano and Mary Sutton followed Daniels, taking 24^th and 26^th in 24:25.17 and 24:40.28, respectively. Audrey O'Neill and Tara Ryan were 30^th and 31^st with time of 24:55.79 and 24:58.19.
 
Kelly Williamson ran sixth for the team and 35^th overall in 25:10.56, followed by Grayce Heinemann in 39^th (25:13.95). Courtney Wallace finished 45^th (25:49.52), while Grace Jansson took 57^th (26:47.66). Kate Ragone crossed the line in 62nd (27:25.26), Sydney Votruba was 67^th (28:04.42), one spot in front of Caitlin O'Hehir (28:19.88). Hope Pinsonault finished 71^st (29:15.31).
 
"The women had a really solid day; they had specific race plans, and as a group they were well executed," Horst said. "At the end of the race we lacked getting the few spots that would have put us ahead of UMBC and Towson, though to be in the position to be able to get after them was a big step in the right direction for the team. Audrey O'Neill had a strong performance today leading our second pack after battling a cold earlier this week."
 
Loyola will be back in action on Saturday, September 29, when it travels to the Windy City for the Loyola Chicago Lakefront Invitational.