BALTIMORE, Md. – The Towson University cross country team started off its season on a high note, taking home gold from the Baltimore Metro Meet hosted by Goucher University on Friday evening. The Tigers placed first out of 10 teams with 31 points, edging out runner-up Gettysburg by seven points. Additionally, this marks the first time since 2014 that Towson has won this event.

"Today was step one in an exciting journey ahead this fall," coach Evan Freeman commented. "This is our first Baltimore Metro title in a decade and it's a sign of all the progress we've made. The women competed hard and worked really well together in their packs. We've got great energy right now and a lot of momentum. It's a great time to be a Tiger!"

Five Tigers finished in the top 10 including freshman Rebekka Hillier who placed second overall out of 86 runners. The time difference between the top five Towson runners was 29 seconds, two minutes less than the spread at last year's season opener at the same meet. Combined the Black & Gold ran an average time of 19:54, nearly one minute faster than last season's 20:45.

Hillier remained within the top three spots throughout the entire race. She clocked the second fastest 1k (3:29.23) and 3k (11:29.1) splits to clock a 19:36.58 for her first collegiate cross country race.

11 seconds later sophomore Baara Stewart crossed the finish line, clocking a PR of 19:47 to place fourth overall. Stewart stayed within the top five throughout the whole 5k.

Lexi Mogensen and Jennifer Maxwell finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Mogensen nearly broke 20 minutes, clocking a PR of 20:00.66 while Maxwell ran a 20:02.05.

Isabella Myles rounded out the Tigers in the top 10, running a strong 20:05.92.

Abbey Frock and Mari Collick clocked 20:12.12 and 20:22.09, respectively. Collick was in 27^th place after the 1k mark but managed to move up over 10 spots and finish in 14^th place overall. Frock placed right ahead of her in 13^th for her first race with the Black & Gold.

Vallerya Rojas, Rebecca Farris, Jillian O'Neill and Taylor Totevski all clocked times within 21 minutes. Additionally, all four Tigers placed in the top 32.

The Tigers return to action in two weeks, heading to Dover for the Delaware State Invitational on September 13 at 10:00 a.m.