Erin Demchko was Navy's second finisher Saturday

Emily Castro's 29th-place finish helped the Navy women's cross country team to a 10th-place showing at the Paul Short Invitational, held Saturday morning in Bethlehem, Pa. A total of 32 teams participated in the race.

"We are happy with how we raced today," said Navy head coach Karen Boyle. "We finished ahead of Army and in front of Pittsburgh, who was ranked ahead of us in the latest rankings. It was also our first 6K race of the fall and we have runners who are still getting stronger for the longer distance, which takes time."

Castro, a freshman who recently was selected as the Patriot League Runner of the Week, finished the course in a time of 21:54.48 to place 29th in the field of over 200 runners. Navy's second finisher was Erin Demchko, who placed 56th with a time of 22:27.27. Stephanie Patterson (67th) and Allison Barlow (70th) next crossed the finsh line in times of 22:32.58 and 22:34.78, respectively. Rounding out the Navy runners who scored was Colleen Maloney, who placed 92nd with a time of 22:54.10.

Navy will next be in action October 17 when Navy races at Army in the annual Star race.

"The team is focused on continuing to work hard and prepare for our upcoming dual meet against Army, the Patriot League Championship and the NCAA Regional," said Boyle.