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Women Finish Fourth, Men Take Fifth at Spartan Invite

Mary Veith

EAST LANSING, MI – The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s cross country teams saw some strong competition from Michigan as the Bulls ran at the Spartan Invitational, hosted by Michigan State University. The UB women scored 133 points to finish fourth among 10 teams while the UB men took fifth place among 11 schools with 150 points.

UB junior Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) paced the women’s runners on Friday afternoon. Veith, an All-Mid-American Conference first-teamer in 2006, finished sixth behind five Michigan State runners. She completed the 6K course in 21:52, just two seconds behind the fifth-place finisher and 20 seconds behind the third-place runner. Michigan State senior Nicole Bush won the women’s individual title in 20:39.

Sophomore Nicole Soblosky (Colonie, NY/Colonie) was UB’s next finisher with a clocking of 22:55 to place 23rd in the 143-runner field. Soblosky was UB’s top finisher at last week’s Tommy Evans Invitational in Akron. Junior Jessica O’Neill (Skaneateles, NY/Skaneateles) and freshman Megan Niblock (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) finished 52nd and 53rd, respectively. O’Neill finished in 23:50 and Niblock finished in 23:51.

Dan Giza

Leading the UB men was senior Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster). Giza, in his first action of the season, completed the 8K course in 25:38 to place 12th among 151 entrants. Giza’s time was more than a minute faster than his best clocking of the 2006 season when he posted a 26:50 at the Toledo Invitational. Grand Valley State’s Nate Peck won the men’s race in 24:43.

Also among UB’s top men’s finishers were sophomore Jason Ayr (Westfield, MA/Westfield) and freshman Ryan Bloom (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport). Ayr placed 27th in 26:04 while Bloom finished 38th in 26:22.

Michigan State’s women, ranked 10th in the current USTFCCCA National Division I Poll sent seven of the top eight runners across the finish line to score a perfect 15 points to take the team title. Grand Valley State scored 27 points to hold off 21st-ranked Michigan State’s 35 to win the men’s title.

UB hosts the UB Stampede Open next Saturday at Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island. Racing begins at 11:00 am.