Matthew Hazlett/ The Towerlight

Despite only having three runners in the top 15, Towson finished second in the Baltimore Metro Cross Country Meet held at Oregon Ridge Park.

Sophomore Elizabeth Tauber was Towson’s highest finisher at 6th overall, completing the race in 19:10.95.

Johns Hopkins dominated the meet with 11 runners in the top 15.

Although Towson finished 33 points out of first place, Head Coach Roger Erricker said the finish was what he expected coming into the race.

“We ran what I thought we would,” he said. “This meet was really about getting our feet wet. For a lot of these girls, it was their first-ever collegiate race, so it’s definitely a building block on our team.”

Erricker said sophomore Ashley Simmons, who finished 23rd overall after finishing in 20:41.50, was the biggest surprise in the race and improved on her time from last year.

“Everyone on our team should be completely satisfied with the way they performed today,” Erricker said. “I’d be upset if they weren’t satisfied, because they all ran well today.”

Freshman Hannah Oneda of Johns Hopkins won the race, finishing in 18:19.13. Oneda was one of 34 runners from Johns Hopkins, who ended up with 27 runners in the top 40.

The only runner not from Towson or Johns Hopkins to finish inside the top 25 was sophomore Katherine Currier from Goucher, who finished at 19:09.46.

The race was a good starting point for the Tigers, allowing the coaching staff to examine the team and see what improvements can be made in order to stay on track this season after losing four runners to graduation, including Katie Odgen who won three events last year.

“There were no disappointments today,” Erricker said. “I can see where our team is going to be this year, and we are only going to get better and better as the races go on.”