The University of Mary Washington men's and women's cross country teams opened the new season and the Kunle Lawson coaching era by competing at the Christopher Newport Opener Relay event in Richmond, Va., at the Roslyn Center, on Tuesday.

The format, which saw two competitors run a relay, saw the Eagle men place third with 33 points, behind William and Mary's seven and CNU's 22. VCU was fourth with 46 points, and Richmond ran a partial squad.

UMW's Chris Markham and Calhoun Stirling finished seventh overall with a time of 31:20, followed by Ian Granger and J.P. Burklow in 12th at 31:36. Chris Anderson and Sean Miller were 14th at 31:49, Kevin Speray and Tom Hudson were 19th at 32:33, and Ben Sorenson and Tate Houff were 20th at 32:36.

The women were fifth with 58 points, trailing WIlliam and Mary (9), Richmond (17), VCU (35), and CNU (37).

Victoria Parent and Emily Knerr finished 17th overall at 39:02, Samantha Park and Brianna Dolecki were 20th at 39:34, and Amanda Patterson and Colleen Boyle were 21st at 39:38. Claudia Autore and Jillian Weisberg were 25th overall at 40:43.