Cross Country Weekly Release

Cross Country Teams Place Fifth at BGSU Meet

The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s cross country teams both took fifth-place finishes in their respective races on Saturday at the Bowling Green Falcon Invitational. The UB men scored 133 points in the 19-team field while the women scored 169 points, also in a 19-team field. Mid-American Conference rival Kent State won the men’s meet with 39 points while Bowling Green took the women’s competition with 55 points, edging out second-place Kent State by six points.

Pollow, Muster Pace Individuals

Leading the UB men was Dennis Pollow with a fifth-place individual finish in 24:44.3 for the 8K course. In his second meet of the season, Pollow finished just five seconds behind the fourth-place finisher, Zack Jones of Oakland, and was 32 seconds off the pace of the race winner, Scott Hilditch of Kent State. Jacob Hagen and Chris Allen were UB’s next two finishers turning in top 30 showings. Hagen finished in 25:41.3 to take 26th place while Allen finished in 25:50.3 for 29th place. A total of 196 runners comprised the men’s field.

Ellen Muster

For the UB women, Ellen Muster was the top finisher. The sophomore completed the 6K course in 22:57.3 to place 20th among 182 runners. Jackie Cavalluzzo was 33rd in 23:17.4, Katie Sanders was 38th in 23:23.5 and Christine Sprehe took 40th in 23:27.0. For Cavalluzzo and Sprehe, their times bettered their previous 6K finishes this season. Cavalluzzo trimmed 22 seconds from her top mark at the Penn State Spiked Shoe meet while Sprehe cut 40 seconds from her top time, also set at the Penn State meet. Kent State’s Alex Lizarribar won the women’s race in 21:47.5.

Mitchell’s Musings

Following the Bowling Green meet, head coach Vicki Mitchell commented about her team’s performances. “The women faced strong MAC competition from Bowling Green and Kent State and from nationally-ranked NAIA school Malone and Division III-ranked Oakland,” she said. “The women are still learning to race strong as a group, and today’s meet gave a very good preview of some of the competition we’ll see at the MAC Championships.” Speaking of the men’s squads, she said, “The men got to see three MAC teams with Kent State’s men running very strong and winning the meet. Dennis Pollow had his first competition against the MAC schools and top runners in the conference. Eastern Michigan’s men edged out the UB men narrowly and we’ll be looking to gain that advantage back in two weeks at the MAC Championships.”

Cornell Meet Closes Out Regular Season

The Bulls travel to Ithaca on Friday, October 23 for the Cornell Reif Invitational in their final regular season tuneup before the Mid-American Conference Championships. The MAC meet is scheduled for Halloween morning, October 31, at Ohio University.