Cross Country: CCBC Essex Takes Region XX Title

Bethany Anderson said the CCBC Essex cross country team had plenty of motivation for wanting to run fast at the NJCAA Region XX/MD JUCO Cross Country Championship Meet on Saturday at Washington County Regional Park in Hagerstown.

The chance to compete against the top junior college runners in the state, Anderson said, was at the top of the list. But the Knights had plenty of added incentive for completing the course as quickly as possible: snow.

Three inches of snow blanketed the course, which made for some tricky running for the participants. But CCBC Essex proved to be up to the challenge as they captured the NJCAA Region XX title and placed third among Maryland junior colleges at the meet.

"It was definitely cold, but that just pushed us to run even faster," said Anderson, a 2011 graduate. "I thought we ran very well."

Individually, freshman Mary Gauvin () finished fifth among all runners in a time of 23 minutes, 53 seconds while Courtney Ball placed 14th overall and fifth in the region in 27:47. Anderson placed 17 overall in 28:55. 

While CCBC Essex placed ahead of and Hagerstown in the Region XX meet, it finished third in the MD JUCO competition. Howard Community College took that team title while placed second.

For CCBC Essex, the team title comes in just its fourth year of existence and with a completely new roster from a year ago under .

"We've come a long way this year," Anderson said.

Volleyball Set for Postseason Play

CCBC Essex will be the sixth seed in the 2011 NJCAA Region XX Division II tournament, set for Saturday and Sunday at the College of Southern Maryland in LaPlata. 

In pool play on Saturday, the Knights will face the College of Southern Maryland, Hagerstown Community College and Chesapeake College. The top two teams emerging from Saturday’s matches will advance to the semifinal round on Sunday. CCBC Essex (10-17) enters the tournament on a four-match winning streak.