FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College cross country team held its season-ending dinner on Friday, December 1 at the Marx Center. Freshman William Andrews and Sophomore Danielle Sgro were recognized by their teammates as "Most Valuable Performers."

"In many ways, this was our most productive season in the four years of the program," said head coach Brent Ayer. "We had 26 student-athletes compete this year, lowered both men's and women's school records and received our first recognition in our new conference. The men ran 12 of the 15 fastest times in school history and the women won their home invitational. The men return all top 10 runners and the women eight of 10.

"We still have our work cut out for us if we are to finish where we would like to finish at the Conference and Regional meets," Ayer observed. "That said, we have the horses, we just need to develop the culture and commit to the work."

Also recognized were seniors Julia Blickenstaff, Rachel Pectol and Robert Mitchell. All three were members of the first cross country program to appear in NCAA competition. Mitchell became the first Hood College male athlete to complete an athletic contest.

"We finished the 2003 season with one male competitor and seven women. Unless you were here, it is hard to realize how fragile this was or how far we have come," Ayer concluded. "All Hood runners owe Rachel, Julia and Robert a debt of gratitude for committing to this and creating the foundation."

MEN

• William Andrews, Most Valuable Runner. Set a new school record of 27:31 for 8000 meters. First Hood College male athlete to be recognized as "Athlete of the Week" by the Capital Athletic Conference. Top Hood finisher in five of the eight races, including the conference and regional meets.

• Tomilayo Komolafe, Most Improved Runner. A sprinter on the track team, this was T.K.'s first season of cross country. He ran the 41st fastest time in Hood College history, and was consistently among the top seven Blazer runners.

• Blake Rust and Blair Ames, Newcomers of the Year. Rust and Ames, both freshmen, hold the sixth (28:27) and seventh (28:31) fastest times in Hood history, respectively. Both were well under last seasonýs school record.

• Steve Delaney, Unsung Hero Award. Junior Captain. Ran consistent fifth man all season. Lowered his personal best from 31:18 to 28:26, the fifth-fastest time in school history.

• Faraz Shoai, Coaches Award. Junior Captain. Previous school record holder. Lowered his personal best from 29:04 last season to 27:53, second-fastest ever. First Hood athlete to train consistently at 70 miles per week in the off-season.

WOMEN

• Danielle Sgro, Most Valuable Runner. First Hood finisher in all eight meets. Set a new school record of 23:43 for 6000 meters, lowering the school record by 28 seconds. Improved by almost a minute over last year's personal record.

• Katie Thomas, Most Improved Runner. A true sprinter, Katie consistently ran in the top five, including running second for Hood at the NCAA Regionals. Has brought her 5K time down over 10:00 since her first season of running.

• Jessica Stanley, Newcomer of the Year. Started slowly after coming off high school injury. Moved steadily through the Hood pack, running in the top three during the latter half of the season.

• Rachel Pectol and April Penn, Unsung Hero Awards. Consistent top five contributors all year. Pectol is a senior captain, member of the first Hood NCAA squad, and holds the 17th-fastest time in College history. Penn has overcome a series of high school injuries to become an important contributor.

• Julia Blickenstaff, Coaches Award. Senior captain, member of Hood's first NCAA team. Ran in the top five for Hood College at all four NCAA regional appearances.