Freshmen led the way for Navy at the Virginia Tech Invitational.

Blacksburg, Va. -- Navy women's cross country opened the season with an impressive victory over Virginia Tech and Christopher Newport at the Virginia Tech Invitational this evening. The Mids defeated both teams in a double-dual format, recording a 31-74 victory over Christopher Newport and a 31-33 victory over Virginia Tech.

“This was a really hard fought race,” commented head coach Karen Boyle. “We had nine of the top 15 finishers; they just packed up really well. It was an impressive team race because everyone gave 110% throughout.”

Navy's top seven finishers consisted of five freshmen and two sophomores. A high school steeplechase All-American, freshman Erin Demchko (Nanuet, N.Y./Pearl River) was the top Navy finisher after taking third place with a time of 15:29.88. Tonight marked not only her first collegiate meet but her first-ever cross country race.

Fellow freshman Emily Castro (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek) captured fourth place with a time of 15:31.59. Allison Barlow (Orange Park, Fla./Clay), Gina DiPiero (Sagamore Hills, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) and Bethany Kauffman (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) all snagged top-ten finishes, while Caitlyn Harrington (Lavaca, Ark./Lavaca) took 11th place with a time of 16:00.1 to give the Mids the tiebreaker and the victory over Virginia Tech.

Navy will play host to American and UMBC on Sat., Sept. 13 for the Salty Sea Dog Invitational in Annapolis.