Freshmen Rule with CCBC Essex Cross Country

Last year, the CCBC Essex women’s cross country team placed third in the Maryland JUCO Region XX championships, behind the performance of Joanna Barranco (fifth), Erin Williams (11th), Barbara Henschel (13th) and Amanda Foble (15th).

Barranco is now an assistant coach with the team this season. Williams is attending Bloomsburg (PA) University. Henschel is attending  And Foble, who like the other three got a two-year degree at the school, is working in the area.

That left head coach Larry Williams, the father of Erin, with seven freshmen going into a scrimmage with Anne Arundel Community College last week.

“That was our dominant team last year,” said coach Williams, who began the program four years ago. "We are a total rebuilding team this year.”

The Knights have to replace Barranco and Foble, who were 2010 NJCAA Cross Country Coaches Association Academic All Americans.

The top five runners for the Knights in the first two meets this season, in the McDaniel Invitational Sept. 10 in Carroll County and the Sept. 17 in Allentown, PA, were Mary Gauvin (Loch Raven), Courtney Ball, (), Anya Sankar (Kenwood) and Shanice Boreland, who went to high school in Jamaica.

Gauvin was among the top finishers in the Maryland Class A state meet among public high schools last year, according to Williams. “Mary is a big star. She is a real stud,” Williams said.

The second-best runner early on has been Ball, who is 30 years old and is originally from Virginia Beach. Williams said Ball began a new academic program at CCBC Essex after moving from Alabama after getting a four-year degree at another school.

“She has run half-marathons. She complains that we don’t run far enough” in training, said Williams, with a laugh.

Gauvin was eighth with a time of 21:58.9 in the Mule/Falcon Classic. Ball was 46th in 27:44.4, Anderson was 49th in 28:02.5 and Sankar was 58th in 32:55.6.

The Knights also expected to add Emily McBee (Mercy) and Rachel Lehner (Lutheran) to the roster. Both plan to play lacrosse in the spring for CCBC Essex, as does Sankar.

Men's Soccer Nationally Ranked

The CCBC Essex men's soccer team improved to 6-0-1 with a 2-1 win at home over Essex of New Jersey on Sunday. The Knights are now ranked 20th in the nation in the latest NJCAA Division I poll.

The Knights were slated to play Wednesday at Prince George's Community College under head coach Rich Zinkand, who has been involved with the program for 12 years. Zinkand teaches English at Calvert Hall.

Women's Soccer Loses Close One

The women's soccer team at CCBC Essex fell to 3-2-1 with a 1-0 loss Tuesday against Montgomery-Rockville.

, an all-region player last year as a freshman, is among the top players this year for the Knights. She is a 5-foot-7 striker from Catholic High.

The team is slated to play Saturday against Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick, RI and on Sunday against Manchester in Manchester, CT.

Volleyball Rallies from Slow Start

The CCBC Essex volleyball team improved to 5-11 on Sept. 23 with a 3-0 win over Baltimore City.

The Knights began the season 0-7 under first-year head coach Viviania Zamora-Luna, an assistant with the team last year. Zamora-Luna grew up in California and played Division II volleyball at Fairmont State in West Virginia.

CCBC Essex is at Cecil in Northeast, MD on Friday. Two of the top players for the Knights are , both of who graduated from .