Senior captain Callie Beeler finished 10th in a field of 71 runners as the United States Merchant Marine Academy women's cross country team placed in a tie for sixth place with Drew University at the Landmark Conference Championships Saturday morning, Oct. 27. Both teams finished with 121 points. Juniata College won the meet and finished with 64 points. This marked the first day that the newly established conference crowned champions in any sport.

Beeler navigated the 6K course in 25:45 and became the first Mariner in any sport to garner All-Landmark Conference honors.

Melissa Mejias was second on the team and 18th overall in 26:23. Rounding out the scoring for the Mariners were Brittany Rossi (24th, 27:07), Lindsay Watkins (30th, 27:53) and Christine Jaszlics (39th, 28:30). Cristina Fernandez-O'Toole and Katherine Ahrens also competed for the Mariners.

The top seven finishers were named to the All-Landmark Conference First Team and the runners who placed eighth through 14th garnered All-Landmark Conference Second Team honors.

"This was a much tougher conference than we're used to," said Beeler. "We used to sweep Skylines, so now we just have to work harder."

"This was a decent start for us in the Landmark Conference," added Head Coach Tony Boston. "We certainly look forward to the years to come. In the future we plan to move up in the conference standings. We're very confident that we can hang with the women who are in this conference."

The women's cross country team returns to action in two weeks at the NCAA Regional Championships. New York University will serve as the host for the meet which will take place at Van Cortlandt Park.