HARDEEVILLE, S.C. - For the second consecutive meet, the Savannah College of Art and Design men's and women's cross country teams each swept the individual and team titles at the Sand Shark Invitational Saturday (Sept. 19) morning at Jasper Park.
Freshman Cesar Fernandez Lazaro won his second consecutive men's title as he won the 8K race in a time of 26:30, 59 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. The time also established a new college record as he shattered the previous record of 27:00 held by teammate Patrick Cooley by 30 seconds. The Bees had four runners in the top 10 as SCAD took the meet with 28 points, five better than second-place University of South Carolina Beaufort.
Ben Harrison (fifth, 27:50), John Sutherland (sixth, 27:53) and Ed McDaniel (12th, 28:56) each recorded personal-best times in the meet while Cooley finished in ninth place for the Bees with a time of 28:44. Nick Curtis came in 11th overall with a time of 28:54 followed by Joseph Housel (17th, 29:55), Carl Dominique (18th, 29:56) and Dillan Brinlee (20th, 30:46). For Housel, Dominique and Brinlee, the meet marked the first collegiate 8K races in their careers.
In the women's 5K race, Sarah Caskey claimed her second win in as many weeks as she won with a time of 18:49, six seconds faster than her teammate Tracy Koch.
As a team, the Bees won their second consecutive Sand Shark title as they won the event with 21 points, 17 better than USCB.
Cara Martin finished in fourth place with a time of 20:32 while teammates Heather Riniker (sixth, 21:09) and Natalie Johnson (eighth, 22:02) recorded top-10 finishes. Tori Aboud finished in 11th place (23:12) while Megan Merrifield finished in 18th (24:44).
Except for Martin, every runner for the Bees recorded a personal best in the women's meet.
The Bees return to the action Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m. when they travel to Clinton, S.C., for the Blue Hose Invitational.