SALISBURY, Md.--Freshman William Andrews and sophomore Danielle Sgro of the Hood College men's and women's cross country teams each ran record-setting races at the 2006 Capital Athletic Conference championships Saturday afternoon at Winter Place Park.

Competing in their first-ever CAC championships, the Blazer men and women each finished sixth out of seven teams in their respective competitions. But it wasn't the team standings that told the story; out of 22 total Hood runners who approached the starting line, 21 ran personal records, including Andrews and Sgro, each of whom broke their own school records.

"The level of effort from our teams was really outstanding, across the board," said head coach Brent Ayer. "There are still some gains to be wrung out of efficiency, but I thought we showed real toughness today. A coach can't ask for much more than that."

Andrews became the first Hood College men's cross country runner to break the 28-minute barrier with a time of 27:31, good for 22nd place. Teammate Faraz Shoai ran the second-fastest time in school history, also under 28 minutes at 27:53, which placed him 27th. Steve Delaney, Blake Rust and Blair Ames crossed the tape within five seconds of one another, placing 30th (28:26), 31st (28:27) and 32nd (28:31). Their times were all within the top seven ever recorded by Hood runners.

Saturday was the final race for senior Robert Mitchell, who was a member of Hood's inaugural squad three seasons ago. He completed his team-high 24th race in 35:03.

Today's competition marked the first time in school history that Hood's five scoring runners all finished under 29 minutes. Also of note, five of Hood's top seven runners were freshmen, paving the way for an exciting future for Hood cross country.

Sgro has been Hood's top female runner all season and didnýt disappoint today, breaking her own school record by nine seconds (23:43) to take 18th place. Rachel Pectol was 34th in 26:09, Jessica Stanley took 35th in 26:25, Katie Thomas placed 38th in 26:45 and April Penn rounded out the Blazer scoring contingent at 27:03 in 41st position. Salisbury won both the men's and women's team titles. The Sea Gull men edged Mary Washington by nine points (28-37) while the women's squad also nipped the Saints, 30-35.

The men's and women's cross country teams have their final test of the fall next weekend at the NCAA Division III Mid-East Regionals hosted by Waynesburg College on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m.