UNCW’s men’s and women’s cross country teams kicked off their season with a dual meet against the Citadel last Friday. The women, who finished fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association last year, defeated the Citadel 42-19. UNCW’s men lost by five.Although the Lady Seahawks lost five of their top seven runners from last year, the team still looks to be competitive in the CAA. Senior co-captains Mary Gill and Amy Henke will lead the young team in its quest for a top-three finish in the conference.”Everybody is really young,” Gill said, “but they’re really good. We are going to have a much better team than last year.”Gill placed first overall in Friday’s dual meet, finishing the 4000-meter race in 14:56.93. Kristin Main, a freshman from Holland, Michigan, finished just five seconds behind Gill, placing second overall and completing the one-two punch for UNCW. Henke, who ran with a stress fracture in her shin, took fourth place for the Seahawks, while UNCW freshmen Rebecca Torres and Melissa McGehee placed fifth and seventh, respectively.”Everyone I thought would do well, ran well,” Assistant Coach Sam Bobbit said. “And then there were all the surprises, a lot of people stepping up and pushing themselves.”The 4000-meter course is 2000 meters shorter than the distance the team will run at the CAA Championships in October, but if Gill and Main were to maintain the pace they went Friday, they would finish 6000-meters in approximately 22:30 and 22:37, respectively. Those times would have placed them each in the top 12 at last year’s conference championships.”If we all run well, and if we all stay healthy,” Henke said, “we have a good chance at aiming for third place in conference.”UNCW’s men have an older, more experienced group, but still have a rebuilding year ahead of them after a last-place finish in the conference last year. Junior Paul Chokota and sophomore Jeff Riepe, the top two runners in 2000, will lead the Seahawks again this year. Freshman Florent Lahreche, who finished first in a preseason time trial, will also be a huge contributor for UNCW.Chokota and Lahreche were the top two finishers for UNCW Friday, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Riepe finished sixth overall, despite losing a week of training two weeks ago due to a surfing injury. “I didn’t do as well as I could have,” Riepe said. “But I think I’ll be up there next week or the week after.”Junior Andy Painter and sophomore Jason Blackwood finished eighth and 15th overall, rounding out the Seahawks’ top five.”I think we went out a little too fast,” sophomore Kemp Burdette said, referring to the fact that most of the competitors ran the first mile between 4:52 and 5:10.”(The first mile) was a lot faster than what we expected,” Lahreche said.Chokota still completed the 5000-meter course in 15:51.1, and he was on pace to finish an 8K in just over 26 minutes, a time that would have placed him in the top 30 of last year’s CAA Championships.Chokota is setting his personal goals even higher though.”I’d like to finish top 10 or top 15 in Conference,” he said.If senior captain Ian Fessler can step up and run as fast as he is capable of running, he could provide the depth UNCW needs to make a dent in the CAA this year.”We’re definitely a lot stronger than we’ve been the last four or five years,” said senior Justin Frenzel, who is currently sidelined with an injury. “We’ll move up in our conference this year, definitely.”The Seahawks are aiming to finish between third and fifth in the nine-team conference.”If we get all of them running good on the same day, we could sneak in there with third,” Bobbit said. “It’s a far cry from easy, but that’s my goal.”With Bobbit taking over the distance program from Bruce Kritzler, who resigned after last track season, both the men’s and women’s teams are more focused and dedicated than they were a year ago.”I think everybody is putting their heart into it this year,” Burdette said. “I think it’s going to pay off.”