Cross Country Weekly Release
10/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Bulls Take on Large Field in Paul Short Meet
Racing in one of the largest cross country meets on the East Coast, the University at Buffalo men's and women's teams competed at the Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh University, on Friday afternoon. The UB men were placed in the Gold Division, the highest of the Paul Short's three divisions, and faced the some of the toughest teams in the country. The Bulls finished 23rd of 45 teams with 606 total points as the University of Oklahoma, ranked fourth nationally by the USTFCCCA, easily won the men's title with 34 points. The UB women, racing in the Brown Division, finished ninth among 44 teams with a total score of 351 points. Iona won the team title with 125 points.
Beim, Conway Earn Top Finishes
Leading the UB women on the 6K course was junior Sam Beim. Beim finished the course in 23:05 to place 37th overall among 385 runners as all of UB's women's runners finished in the top half of field. Joining Beim in the top 60 finishers were sophomore Katie Sanders in 23:11 for 44th place and junior Jackie Cavalluzzo in 23:21 for 58th place. Rounding out UB's finishers in the women's race were sophomore Becky Martin in 105th place in 23:59, junior Caitlin Curry in 107th place in 24:01, junior Kelsey Fitzgerald in 126th place in 24:08 and freshman Christina Clarkin in 175th place in 21:40.
Senior Dylan Conway was the top men's finisher for the Bulls. Conway finished 96th among 402 runners in 25:31 for the 8K distance. Also crossing the finish line for the Bulls were freshman Alex Saavedra in 122nd place in 25:39, senior John Inzina in 135th place in 25:43, sophomore Andris Goncarovs in 145th place in 25:46, sophomore Zach Ahart in 151st place in 25:48, sophomore Mike Pressler in 224th place in 26:18 and redshirt freshman Brandon Cowles in 278th place in 26:43.
Men's Team Cracks Regional Rankings
With their strong finish against a highly competitive field, the UB men's cross country team earned a spot in the regional rankings released Monday morning by the USTFCCCA. The Bulls are 15th in the Northeast Region. Head coach Vicki Mitchell commented on her team's appearance in the rankings. "At this point of our training we are still carrying a heavy workload and continue to train through the races. We are very pleased with the outcome of Paul Short and saw great progress with our men's team," said Mitchell. "We still have room for improvement and will continued to stay focused over the next five weeks leading into the Northeast Regional Championships. We are at a good point right now, and look forward to seeing even greater progress." The Bulls host the Northeast Regional meet on November 12.
A Return Trip to the Keystone State
The Bulls return to the Keystone State for their next action when they race at the Penn State National Meet on October 15. UB raced at the Penn State against national competition last season with the men placing 18th of 27 and the women's team finishing 20th of 31.
