Cross Country Weekly Release
11/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Northeast Regionals Prove Successful
The University at Buffalo cross country teams hosted the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships for the first time in school history on Saturday at the Audubon Golf Course. The UB men placed seventh in a 33-team field while the women finished 25th among 36 teams. The seventh-place finish by the UB men was the highest in school history. UB's men scored 215 points for their seventh-place finish, one point ahead of eighth-place Cornell. Syracuse (54) and Iona (72) earned the two automatic berths into the NCAA National Championships later this month. The UB women scored 723 points for 25th place. Syracuse (116) and Boston College (127) were the top two women's squads.
Men Post Four in Top 40
In the men's 10K meet, UB had four runners place in the top 40 led by junior Mike Pressler. Pressler just missed out on making the 25-man All-Northeast team as he finished 28th overall in 32:18.2, cutting his time from last season's regional meet in Madison, CT by 24 seconds. Freshman Steve Houghmaster was UB's second runner to finish in 32:23.3 to place 34th. Seniors John Inzina and Dylan Conway finished 37th and 38th, respectively, in 32:24.7 and 32:25.3. Sophomore Andris Goncarovs was 81st in 33:15.1 with sophomore Zachary Ahart (83rd, 33:17.9) and freshman Alex Saavedra (105th, 33:30.6) rounding out the Bulls' finishers. Iona's Leonard Korir won the individual title in 31:10.4 with David McCarthy of Providence finishing second in 31:13.1. A total of 240 men's runners completed the race.
Beim Leads Women's Runners
For the UB women, junior Sam Beim was the top finisher. She completed the 6K course in 23:11.4 to place 114th overall. It was her second time finishing as UB's top runner. She had a 37th-place finish at the Paul Short Invitational on September 30. Junior Katie Sanders was 119th in 23:15.1. Senior Jackie Cavalluzzo was 146th in 23:38.9. Freshman Christina Clarkin was 157th in 23:50.5. Junior Emma Denton finished 193rd in 24:34.8. Rounding out the UB finishers were sophomore Becky Martin (223rd, 25:35.1) and junior Kelsey Fitzgerald (228th, 25:54.8). Dartmouth's Abbey D'Agostino won the women's title in 20:25.3 with Syracuse's Lauren Penney second in 20:39.1. A total of 243 women's runners completed the course.
Mitchell's Musings
UB head coach Vicki Mitchell was pleased with Saturday's meet as temperatures hovered in the low 50s with a stiff breeze. "I could not have asked for more from this meet than what we had today. The conditions, although a little windy, were perfect and I think both the athletes and the crowd enjoyed the event. The wind was a challenge and you have to be tough to run through it, but I thought we ran a very smart race," Mitchell said. As for her team's performance's, Mitchell was equally thrilled. "I am so proud of our men's team for finishing seventh and setting school history. To have four guys in the top 40 just speaks to the hard work they put in, especially our seniors. On the women's side, we are still working on our confidence a little bit. Give them another year and I think they have the potential to take that next step that the men took this year."
