Freshman Leads Gophers to 4th Place at Metro Meet

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. — A freshman proved to be Goucher's top performer and head coach John Caslin's Gophers found themselves in a tight three-team battle for second place today at the annual Baltimore Metro Meet, conducted at Oregon Ridge Park.

Amanda Tascarella (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) was the 21st runner to cross the finish line as she completed the 5,000-meter race in 22:11.80, and two of her teammates followed in 24th and 25 place, respectively. Anna Sandacz (Jessup, Md./Annapolis Area Christian School) was clocked at 22:31.25 as she finished one position ahead of Zoe Malkin (Watchung, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional), who turned in a time of 24:11.34.

The fourth Goucher runner to come in was another freshman, Soliana Goldrich (Cleveland, Ohio/Beachwood). She placed 29th overall (25:10.08).

The first 12 runners — led by Ingrid Johnson — to finish the race were all from Johns Hopkins, the defending Division III national champion. Johnson's winning time was 19:36.33.

Johns Hopkins captured the team title at today's event with a perfect score of 15 points. The battle to be runner-up to the Blue Jays went to McDaniel, which scored 71 points, one better than Stevenson (72 points), which placed third. The Gophers wound up fourth with 82 points.