The University of Mary Washington cross country teams opened the 2012 season with the men placing fourth and the women fifth at the Salisbury University Invitational on Saturday.

On the men's side, UMW (87 points) placed behind Navy (32), John Carroll (75), and George Washington University (82). Rival Salisbury placed just behind the Eagles in fifth place with 120 points. Freshman Nick Eghtessad was the Eagles' top finisher with a eighth place finish at 26:58, followed by senior Scott Plunkett in 14th place at 27:16. Corey Lyons took 17th at 27:27, Jeff Branson was 22nd overall at 27:51, and Julian Menk finished in 26th place at 28:03.

The women finished fifth with 114 points, behind Rowan University (57), George Washington (58), John Carroll (67), and Loyola (89), and ahead of DeSales (131) and Salisbury (171). Sophomore Tara Landy was the Eagles' top finisher, in 11th place with a time of 23:21. She was followed by Caroline Cerand in 20th place at 23:40, Nicole Bethune in 25th place at 24:01, Liz Green in 27th at 24:10, and Colleen Boyle in 31st at 24:16.

The Eagles will return to action on September 22 at the Frostburg State University Invitational.