Cross Country Weekly Release
9/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Spiked Shoe Kicks Off Season
The University at Buffalo's men's and women's cross country teams got the 2010 season started on Saturday as the teams competed at the Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational. The UB women finished ninth in a 14-team field with 285 points while the UB men placed 10th among 16 schools with 296 points.
Sanders, Conway Top Finishers at Penn State
In the women's 6K race, UB's top finisher was sophomore Katie Sanders as she finished the course in 22:38.8, placing 40th among 177 entrants. It was the second time that Sanders had been the top finisher at the Spiked Shoe. As as freshman in 2009, she finished 25th of 125 in 22:57. Junior Dylan Conway was the top UB finisher in the men's race, held at a distance of 5.2 miles. Conway finished in 27:19.9 to place 74th overall in a 193-racer field. Conway was able to cut 10 seconds off from his finish of last season.
First Timers Make Debut
A pair of freshmen runners made their UB debuts at Saturday's Spiked Shoe Invitational. For the UB men, Andris Goncarovs finished 96th in 27:51.6 as the Bulls' fifth finisher while Zach Ahart was the team's sixth finisher in 27:52.2 for 97th place.
Coach Mitchell's Comments
Following the conclusion of Saturday's meet, head coach Vicki Mitchell commented, "The Spiked Shoe meet provided perfect weather conditions to run the first race of the season. There were several women that ran strong races including Katie Sanders and Brittany Chilson. The men ran a very controlled race staying at a strict pace in a pack through three miles and then pushed the last 2.2 miles. It gave us a good sense of fitness and an idea of where we need to focus our training. We are looking forward to racing the rest of the team at the UB Stampede this coming weekend."
Make Way For The Stampede
The Bulls host the UB Stampede Invitational this Saturday, September 18. Racing at Beaver Island State Park begins with the women's event at noon followed by the men's competition at 12:45 pm. Joining the Bulls will be teams from Mid-American Conference programs, Akron and Kent State as well as regional rivals Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, Niagara and RIT.
