For the fourth time in program history, the Salisbury University cross country teams swept the Capital Athletic Conference Championships. Saturday, the Sea Gull men claimed their ninth title, topping the nearest team by 29 points while the women bested their closest competitor by 23 points to earn their seventh CAC championship

Salisbury freshman Ryan Jackson and senior Chris Barnard were the first two runners across the finish line in the men's race and were named the CAC Rookie and CAC Runner of the Year, respectively.  

Barnard is the fifth Salisbury student-athlete to win the CAC Runner of the Year award, the first since Eric Graves in 2007.  Jackson is also the fifth Sea Gull competitor to gain the CAC Rookie of the Year award, and the third in the last four years.  Barnard won the award in 2007, and Salisbury sophomore Stephen Berstler, Jr., who finished fourth in this year's chase, was the 2009 CAC Rookie of the Year.

Jackson, Barnard, Berstler, Jr., and third-place Trent Seawell swept the top four positions for Salisbury, which posted to a team score of 21 points to clinch third fifth team title in the last six years (ninth since 1997).  Defending CAC champion Mary Washington finished second with 50 points, followed by York (88), St. Mary's (134), Hood (143), Frostburg State (148), Stevenson (164), Marymount (216) and Wesley (272).

In the women's chase, York's Mandy Parshall captured top individual honors, leading the Spartans to third place in the team standings.  Parshall outdueled Marymount freshman Jessica Daley by eight seconds for top honors.  Frostburg State's Anne Patron, Salisbury's Becca Stinner and Mary Washington's Liz Green rounded out the top five finishers.

Parshall is the first Spartan runner to capture top individual honors and CAC Runner of the Year recognition in the 20-year history of the conference. 

Daley, who led Marymount to sixth place in the team standings, is the second Saints competitor to pick up the Rookie of the Year award, joining 2003 honoree Sara Leslie in that exclusive club.

Salisbury scored 34 points to beat Mary Washington (57) and York (74) for the team title, the Sea Gulls' third straight CAC crown and sixth in the last seven years. 

Frostburg State, in its first year in the CAC, placed fourth in the women's standings with 131 points.  Hood (158) outdueled St. Mary's (159) and Marymount (166) for fifth place while Stevenson scored 194 points and Wesley had 239 points.

Salisbury coach Jim Jones was selected as the Coach of the Year in both men's and women's cross country.  It was Jones' eighth men's Coach of the Year award since 2000, including four-straight years from 2005-08, and was his second-straight women's honor, fourth since 2004.

Complete 2010 CAC Men's & Women's Cross Country Results

Men's Standings:  Salisbury 21, Mary Washington 50, York 88, St. Mary's 134, Hood 143, Frostburg State 148, Stevenson 164, Marymount 216, Wesley 272
Athlete of the Year - Chris Barnard, Salisbury University
Rookie of the Year - Ryan Jackson, Salisbury University
Coach of the Year - Jim Jones, Salisbury University (8th time)

Women's Standings:  Salisbury 34, Mary Washington 57, York 78, Frostburg State 131, Hood 158, St. Mary's 159, Marymount 166, Stevenson 194, Wesley 239
Athlete of the Year - Mandy Parshall, York
Rookie of the Year - Jessica Daley, Marymount
Coach of the Year - Jim Jones, Salisbury University (4th time)