Salisbury University adopted its current name on July 1, 2001, after previously operating as Maryland State Normal School (1925-34), Maryland State Teachers College (1934-63), Salisbury State College (1963-88), and Salisbury State University (1988-2001). In honor of the silver anniversary of the institution's rechristening, we're spinning the "Gulls Greatest Hits" and revisiting each varsity team's biggest moment in the Salisbury University era.
 
Cross Country | Nov. 4, 2006 – CAC Men's & Women's Championships
 
Setting the Stage
After achieving assorted moments of glory over the past half decade, the Salisbury cross country teams brought it all together in 2005, sweeping both the men's and women's Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) championships for the first time. For the Sea Gull women it was a second consecutive league crown; for the men, a fourth in six years. The only thing that kept the moment from being perfect? It came in Rockville, Md., well across the Chesapeake Bay and far from home.
 
Fortunately for the Sea Gulls, they would have their shot at hometown glory in 2006, with the CAC Championships set to be held at Salisbury's Winter Place Park. SU hit the ground running in September, with the women's team winning its season opener at home and the men taking the Towson Invitational title the next week. Four more meets came and went with Salisbury never finishing lower than fourth on either side, and after a two-week break following the Elizabethtown Invitational, the championship moment had arrived.
 
Six teams would join the Gulls at the starting line that November afternoon, with Mary Washington primed to be the closest competitors; the Eagle men won the title in 2004, while the women had strung together seven straight wins from 1997-2003.
 
Key Faces
Leading the way on the women's side was the twin sister duo of Kelly Sullivan and Glenna Sullivan. Both runners came into 2006 coming off All-CAC and All-Region performances the year before, with Glenna winning CAC Runner of the Year and Kelly top Rookie honors; Kelly had also won a pair of individual races to begin that season. Other returning all-conference talent included Casey McInerny and Zuzka O'Zwoldike, the former another All-Region holder from the year before.
 
Undeterred by the loss of reigning Runner of the Year Scott Koehler, the SU men leaned on returning All-CAC First-Teamers Eric Graves and Buck Stokes, plus trio of Second-Teamers in Carl Blickle, Zach Dickerson, and Brian Eagan. Breakout star Will Murdoch posted the best individual finish of the year by taking the silver at the Towson Invitational, while Murdoch and Graves finished four-five at the Waynesburg Invitational in mid-September.
 
Head coach Jim Jones had assembled two of his finest teams as he pursued the seventh and eighth league titles of his tenure. He was the reigning CAC Coach of the Year on both sides, good for six total awards since the start of the 2000 campaign.
 
How It Happened
The Salisbury men faced a stiff challenge from UMW, who saw Justin Kirk and Frank DeVar win league Runner and Rookie of the Year, respectively, as they took the top two slots. The Sea Gulls made up for it in a big way by placing four runners in the top seven, plus another in 11th place, to score a meet-low 30 points and beat out the Eagles by five.
 
Stokes (25:43) and Murdoch (25:44) each set new personal records to finish third and fourth, while Graves (25:56) took fifth and Dustin Yourstone (PR 26:28) seventh; all four took home First-Team All-CAC prizes. Blickle (PR 26:44) and Bill Nastasiak (PR 26:52) secured All-CAC Second Team by placing 11th and 13th, respectively. In all, nine of the 13 SU runners who competed that day established a personal record, and Jones secured Men's Coach of the Year laurels for the fifth time.
 
On the women's side, the Sullivans left no doubt by finishing one-two by a wide margin. Kelly (PR 21:46) broke the tape in record-setting fashion, winning CAC Runner of the Year and posting a time that would stand as the program's best at Winter Place Park for 18 years. Not to be outdone, Glenna (21:57) crossed 23 seconds faster than the meet's third-place finisher.
 
Joining the Sullivans on the All-CAC First Team was Jenn Bulger (PR 22:32) in fifth place, while O'Zwoldike (PR 22:50) in seventh and Emily Hammonds (PR 23:11) in 12th made the Second Team. SU saw six-of-eight runners post personal records, while the top five scored 28 points on the afternoon, besting UMW by nine to successfully defend the crown.
 
Reflections from HC Jim Jones
"What a special group of people that was. They focused on their goals all season, working each day to complete back-to-back CAC double championships. And to do it at our home course that year made it even more special."
 
Aftermath
One week later, the Sea Gulls posted dual seventh-place finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regional at Pennsylvania's Waynesburg College, with Graves, Stokes, and the Sullivans making All-Region marks and Nastasiak slotting on the Freshman All-Region team. Kelly and Glenna, meanwhile, made further history the next week in West Chester, Ohio, representing Salisbury at the NCAA Division III National Championships. They were the first SU women to make nationals in seven years, and they would be the most recent women to qualify until Rachel Roberts in 2024.
 
Salisbury's men kept the train rolling in 2007, winning a third of what would ultimately be four consecutive CAC crowns. Graves crossed the finish line first by 30 seconds and parlayed that into an appearance at the NCAA Championships at St. Olaf College in Minnesota; he was the first SU man to punch his ticket to nationals under Jones' watch, with two more (Ryan Jackson '10, Jason Cave '21) to follow.

The Sea Gulls would eventually make it four CAC double titles in a six-year span, claiming both league championships in 2008 and 2010, the latter occurring once again on friendly ground at Winter Place Park.
 

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Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 26 individual national championships, and 211 conference championships, and have produced 54 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.