Merkel leads McDaniel in debut at Metro Meet

WESTMINSTER, Md. – Freshman Peter Merkel (Ellicott City, Md./Homeschool) finished 30th overall to lead McDaniel to a third-place finish at the 2011 Baltimore Metro Meet in season-opening men's cross country action on Friday.

The Green Terror recorded 89 points overall at the six-team meet that was hosted on its own home course.

Merkel completed the 5,000-meter race in a time of 18:24.40 in his first collegiate action and was just sixth non-Johns Hopkins runner across the finish line. The Blue Jays won the invitational with a perfect score of 15 points, sweeping the top 17 spots.

Freshman Evan King (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) was the second McDaniel runner across the line, placing 37th in the 74-man field with a time of 18:59.47.

Graham Miles (Hartford, Conn./Kingswood-Oxford) led a trio of Green Terror harriers across the line in 40th (19:10.67). Ron Shriver (Westminster, Md./Francis Scott Key) and Caleb Phillips (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) followed him with times of 19:13.02 and 19:15.19, respectively.

Matthew Peterson (Littleton, Colo./Lakewood) was 44th with a time of 19:42.31.

McDaniel returns to action on the same course in its own Green Terror Invitational on Sept. 10. The first race begins at 9:45 a.m.

Team Scores: 1. Johns Hopkins 15, 2. Hood 66, 3. McDaniel 89, 4. Coppin State 118, 5. Goucher 132, 6. Stevenson 135.

McDaniel Results (5,000 meters, 74 competitors): 30. Peter Merkel 18:24.40, 37. Evan King 18:58.47, 40. Graham Miles 19:10.67, 41. Ron Shriver 19:13.02, 42. Caleb Phillips 19:15.19, 44. Matthew Peterson 19:42.31, 53. Nathan Kelley 20:20.86, 56. Dylan Ryan 20:45.29, 58. Keegan Boyle 20:53.63, 70. Matthew Christopher 23:38.34, 72. Brian Rose 24:10.02, 73. Daniel Reinholtz 24:29.14, 74. Jon Gore-Langton 25:28.19.

-30-

$website.include("/sports/mxc/2011-12/videos/20110902_merkel.flv")