CARY -- It was said to be one of the closest team finishes in CIAA men's team cross country history. But when it was over, the perennial powers were holding the big trophy.

Bermudian Larry Marshall, who was runner-up to teammate Alhajji Alhassan last season, finished in 25 minutes, 49.9 seconds to hold off N.C. Central's top two runners and led St. Augustine's to a 30-33 victory over the second-place Eagles and a repeat CIAA title at SAS Soccer Park. Shaw finished third in the men's team race.

In the women's race, the Falcons had no trouble ending the two-year title reign of Raleigh rival Shaw, finishing 1-2-3-4-9 for a miniscule 19 points to 57 for the Lady Bears in the 12-team meet. Bowie State was third and NCCU fourth.

Maria Medina, the Falcons' junior from the Dominican Republic who was second behind NCCU's four-time champion Katerina Glosova at last year's meet in Pleasant Garden, was the winner in 19:51.6 to help her school win the team championship.

"I'm bringing in some Kenyans next year, Mike!" St. Aug's coach George Williams, who will coach the U.S. Olympic track team in Athens next year, yelled jokingly to Eagles coach Mike Lawson after the close win.

It was indeed a tight one, as the Eagles' Jean Pierre Joubert, a junior transfer from Western Kentucky and a native of South Africa, finished second in 26:39.4 and NCCU freshman Joey Estevez from Raleigh's Leesville Road High was third at 27:06.3.

NCCU's Wesley Yeldell, a junior transfer from St. Aug's, finished sixth in 27:43.4, while sophomore Andre Atchison was eighth in 28:29.2 to earn All-CIAA honors for the second straight year.

"I was just trying to find the right place to make my move," the sophomore Marshall said about passing the Eagles' first two runners on the second of three laps on the 8-kilometer course. "And I wanted to make sure I didn't tense up."

With sunshine and temperatures in the high 40s, the weather was perfect for cross country.

"It was a good run, but I was a little disappointed in myself," Joubert said. "[Marshall] has beaten me twice, and today he got away with about two miles to go. But I get another chance at the regional [at SAS on Nov. 8.]"

Estevez sounded a little more pleased with his own run.

"I just wanted to hang with J.P. [Joubert] and make my move when he made his," Estevez said. "Finishing third as a freshman is pretty good, but I see I can do better."

Williams said he had been a little leery of the Eagles coming into the meet.

"Central has a really good team, so our guys had a good run today," Williams said. "Shaw smoked our women's team pretty good last year, so they decided to go ahead and train this time."

Lawson, giving credit to distance assistant Musa Williams, said he was a bit disappointed by coming such a close second but happy with his runners' effort.

"Everybody went really hard today," Lawson said. "Now we'll see what we can do with them in the regionals. And I was happy with the way the women's team ran. We have some basketball players on the team who are pretty good cross country runners."

Medina said she had made a lot of effort to study the 5-kilometer women's course.

"I've been running it the last three weeks," she said. "About two weeks ago I went too fast down the hill and learned a lesson. I was much better today."

NCCU's top female runner, Christina Harris, finished 18th.

"I felt like I did all right," Harris said. "I just didn't like the shoes we had to wear very much. But the course itself is great."