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Cross Country Weekly Release

Men Take 20th, Women Place 26th at Paul Short Meet

UB’s cross country teams were in action at the 34th Annual Paul Short Invite, hosted by Lehigh University. The meet, one of the largest in the country, included several ranked teams and is considered UB’s toughest test against national competition. The UB men scored 604 points in a 41-team field to finish 20th overall. The UB women scored 739 points to place 26th in the 47-team field. The Villanova men (50) and Princeton women (45) won the team competitions.

Bulls Place Four Among Top 100 Finishers

Jesse Mang

UB junior Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) was the top runner in the women’s 6K race. Veith finished in 21:29 to place 32nd among a 317-runner field and was the only UB woman in the top 100. Veith bettered her 6K time for the season slicing 23 seconds off her mark set at the Spartan Invitational where she placed sixth among 143 runners.

For the UB men, three racers finished in the top 100 led by senior Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster). Giza completed the 8K course in 25:29 to finish 62nd among 268 runners. The time was his fastest of the season, cutting his previous best set at the Michigan State meet, by nine seconds.

Also finishing in the top 100 were senior Jesse Mang (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) and sophomore Jason Ayr (Westfield, MA/Westfield). Mang finished 80th in 25:41 with Ayr just eight seconds behind at 25:49 to take 95th place. Mang cut more than a minute off his previous best mark this season while Ayr bettered his top mark by 15 seconds. Both previous bests were also set at the Spartan Invite at Michigan State.

Individuals Post Season-Best Times

Jacob Hagen

Because of the level of competition and the course layout, the Paul Short event typically gives UB runners their fastest times of the season and this year’s meet was no exception. Besides Veith, Giza, Mang and Ayr, three men’s and seven women’s runners also turned in season-best marks in either the main race or the open competition.

Among the men, season-best times were turned in by Scott Dickover (Middletown, NY/Middletown) (27:08), Jacob Hagen (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) (26:47) and Paul Riley (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) (27:12 in the open race). Other UB women with top 6K times on Friday included Liz Anderson (East Moriches, NY/Westhampton Beach) (25:09 open), Susan Beatty (Holley, NY/Holley) (24:41),

Brittany Chilson

Brittany Chilson (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) (24:38, open), Jessica O’Neill (Skaneateles, NY/Skaneateles) (23:34), Nicole Soblosky (Colonie, NY/Colonie) (22:37), Kristen Swanson (Clarence, NY/Clarence) (25:19, open) and Gillian Taylor (Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen) (25:14, open). Some cut their times by just a few seconds, Chilson trimmed a full minute off her previous 6K performance at Michigan State and Taylor cut her time by 55 seconds. Hagen shortened his time down by 39 seconds and Riley trimmed 33 seconds off his previous 8K best.