Cross Country Weekly Releases

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UB Men Win Tommy Evans Invite, Women Place Second

The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s cross country teams kicked off the 2008 campaign last Saturday afternoon at the annual Tommy Evans Invite hosted by the University of Akron. The UB men scored 33 points to hold off second-place Akron’s 40 while the UB women tallied 46 points to place second behind the host Zips with 17.

Bloom, Hagen Finish in Top Five

Ryan Bloom

In the men’s race, sophomore Ryan Bloom (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) was the top finisher for the Bulls as he placed third overall and second among Division I entrants in 21:06 on the four-mile course. Bloom finished just two seconds behind Akron’s Andy Knapp and six seconds off the pace of the overall top placer, Dan Whisler of Mount Union (21:00). His time was a 32-second improvement from last season’s meet, his first as a collegian, where he finished 11th in a 48-runner field. Sophomore Jacob Hagen (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) turned in a fourth-place finish in 21:09 for UB’s second scorer. Hagen cut nearly a full minute from last season’s 22:04 clocking where he finished 21st overall.

Women’s Runners Also Show Improvements

Jessica Schultz

In the women’s 5K race, Akron took five of the top seven spots to claim the team title with UB racers placing fifth and sixth in the field. Jessica Schultz (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) finished fifth in 19:06 while Nicole Soblosky (Colonie, NY/Colonie) was sixth in 19:26. For Schultz, she sliced more than a minute and a half from last season’s 20:44 and 16th-place finish. Soblosky, who was UB’s top finisher last year in 10th place as she made her UB debut, cut 26 seconds from her mark in 2007.

Remainder of Scorers Place in the Top Half

Alex Bykowska

In both the men’s and women’s races, UB’s third, fourth and fifth finishers all placed among the upper half of the field. For the men, freshman Dylan Conway (Commack, NY/Hauppauge) finished in 21:27 for 12th overall, Scott Dickover (Middletown, NY/Middletown) finished in 21:37 for 15th overall and Ryan Zillmann (Deer Park, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) finished in 21:44 for 17th overall. A total of 50 runners comprised the field of Division I and III squads.

Finishing third for the UB women was Alex Bykowska (Poznan, Poland/Third High School of Poznan) in 10th place in 19:43 with Jackie Bozich (Salisbury Mills, NY/Cornwall Central) 11th in 19:54. Brittany Chilson (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) was UB’s final scorer in 15th place in 20:09.

Spartan Invitational Next Up For Bulls

The Bulls travel to East Lansing, MI for this week’s Spartan Invitational. The men’s 8K race is slated for Friday, September 12 at 1:00 pm with the women’s 6K race starting at 1:45 pm. At last year’s competition, the UB women placed fourth among 10 schools while the UB men finished fifth in an 11-team field.