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Vicki Mitchell

BUFFALO, NY ­ For the first time in school history, the University at Buffalo's women's cross country team has received national attention, collecting two votes in the latest FinishLynx Top 30 poll released this week.

The Bulls garnered two points, tying for 40th place with Purdue among the 42 schools that received votes in the latest poll. Defending national champion Stanford tops the poll with 386 points, including 10 first-place votes, and is seven points ahead of second-ranked Providence.

UB gained the national attention thanks to a sixth-place finish at last Saturday's Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, PA. All five schools that the Bulls placed behind are ranked within the top 30 programs in the country. Those schools are No. 10 Tennessee, No. 11 Villanova, No. 15 Columbia, No. 24 William & Mary and No. 26 Georgetown.

In three meets this season, the Bulls have won twice (Tommy Evans Invitational, Central Collegiate Invitational) and placed sixth against top national competition (Paul Short Invitational). Leading the Bulls this season has been senior Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst) who has finished in the Top 10 in all three meets, crossing the finish line first at the Tommy Evans and Central Collegiate meets. She has also been named the Mid-American Conference's Women's Runner of the Week three consecutive times. Koeppel's 17:49 is the second-fastest 5K mark in the Mid-American Conference this year, just one second behind Ball State's Jill Scully, who clocked a 17:48 at the Indiana Intercollegiates on September 17. Junior Jen Jezorski (Elmira, NY/Elmira Southside) also has top 10 finishes this season at the Tommy Evans and Central Collegiate meets and finished 21st among the 175 runners at the Paul Short meet.

"I think it's great that the coaches are looking at Buffalo as an upcoming program," said head coach Vicki Mitchell. "There are still five or six weeks left in the season. Right now is too early to put too much into it."

The Bulls travel to Philadelphia for the LaSalle Invitational this Saturday starting at 3:00 pm.