SALISBURY, Md.-This past weekend saw 15 cross country runners set personal records, as Kelly Buriak and Faraz Shoai paced the women's and men's cross country teams, respectively, in the Tidewater Fall Classic in Salisbury, Md.

Buriak led the way for the women's team with a 20th-place individual finish, breaking her own school record in the 6,000-meter course by 22 seconds. The senior captain finished the race in 24:11, leading the women's team to a fifth-place finish.

"Kelly ran the final 1,000 meters at sub 5:30 mile-pace. She was just hammering at the end," said Brent Ayer, head women's and men's cross country coach. "There's more in the tank. I wouldn't be surprised if she dropped one in the 23's before this is over."

Freshman Danielle Sgro also ran under Buriak's previous school record, finishing 34th with a time of 24:31. She set a freshmen class record for the 6,000-meter and also broke the class record as she passed the 5,000-meter mark.

The women's team scoring was completed by freshman Kyleigh Reynolds, who placed 44th overall and recorded a personal record of 25:03; senior captain Rachel Collmus, who finished 55th with a personal record of 26:01; and junior captain Rachel Pectol, who recorded a personal record of 27:09 and finished in 63rd place.

On the men's side, sophomore transfer Shoai ran the men's 8,000-meter course in 29:04 to finish 53rd overall. He shaved 51 seconds from the school record he set two weeks ago and helped the Blazers finish 8th overall as a team.

Shoai ran the last mile in 5:35, which was by far his fastest mile of the outing. "You always like to see negative splits (running the second half of the race faster than the first), especially as part of a personal record," said Ayer. "If Faraz is able to spread this around in the middle of his race, he will drop another 20 to 25 seconds immediately."

Also running well for the men was freshman Bryan Lentz, who ran the course in 31:18 to tie sophomore captain Steve Delaney's class record, which had been the school record at the start of the year.

Completing the men's team scoring were Delaney, who placed 64th overall with a time of 31:58; senior captain Robert Mitchell, who ran to a 65th-place finish in a personal best time of 32:50; and freshman Kevin Worley, who finished in 68th place with a time of 33:11.

Rounding out a fine outing and also setting personal records were freshmen Brigid Blakemore, Katie Thomas, Will Emory and Faizal Johnson and sophomores Adrienne Cornett, April Penn and Sarah Stiles.