Cross Country Makes Strides at the Coast-To-Coast Battle in Beantown

Friday, September 20

Boston, MA

3:00 PM

University at Buffalo

Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown

Cross Country Makes Strides at the Coast-To-Coast Battle in Beantown

9/20/2019 7:09:00 PM | Cross Country

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo cross country teams competed in the Coast-To-Coast Battle in Beantown on Friday afternoon in Boston, MA. The women's team competed in the 5k race while the men's team ran an 8k race.

The Bulls ran against 23 Division I programs with 14 of them competing in the NCAA Northeast Regional come mid-November. There were a total of 21 schools in the men's 8k and 22 schools in the women's 5k. With the amount of talent surrounding this annual competition, the Bulls competed well as the men finished 14^th out of 21 and the women placed 21^st out of 22. Of the 22 teams the women went against, eight of them are in the top-15 in the latest USTFCCCA NCAA Northeast Region Poll with the men competing against 11 of the top-15 for the men's poll.

On the women's side, Alexia Hecico crossed the line in 18:26.5 for 51^st place overall. Behind her were teammates Riley Jones (127^th place – 19:24.7), Maxine Dupuis (129^th place – 19:25.8), Dana Lynch (162^nd place - 20:03.2) and Lily Meek (169^th place – 20:11.8). Alanna Kramer (188^th place – 21:04.4) and Samantha Vetter (189^th place – 21:17.4) also competed in the race.

"For three freshmen and three sophomores, this is the largest and most competitive field they have seen," stated head coach Vicki Mitchell. "Lots to learn as a young group and still developing, not only strength but also learning to be confident in a big field. Big improvements to come."

With the second race of the day, the men's squad competed against a high talented pool of runners. Caleb Covell led the way for the Bulls as he finished in 29^th place with a time of 24:56.3. Cal Puskar had an impressive race as he finished the 8k race in 25:09.6 for 38^th place. William Hilbert (75^th place – 25:40.0) and Scott Loforte (91^st place – 25:55.7) both finished in the top-100. Thomas Flannery (128^th place – 26:31.1), Armani Merlino (137^th place – 26:47.8), Ryan Buzby (141^st place – 26:52.8) and Christopher Nowak (143^rd place – 26:58.0) helped the Bulls to their 14^th place finish.

"It's good to come out and see high end competition this early in the season," associate head coach Todd Witzleben said. "We can improve by being more aggressive early in the race. We have an important training cycle over the next few weeks."

The Bulls will have the week off with their next race on Saturday, October 5 as they travel to Bethlehem, PA for the annual Paul Short Invite hosted by Lehigh University.

For women's race results, click here. For men's race results, click here.