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Cross Country Weekly Release

Women Finish 10th, Men Take Seventh at MAC Meet

Mary Veith

The Mid-American Conference held its 2007 Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Riverwood Resort in Mt. Pleasant, MI with Central Michigan University serving as the host school. The UB women, paced by an All-MAC finish by junior Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) placed 10th among 12 schools while the UB men finished seventh in a nine-team field. Ohio won the women's team championship for the second straight year with 56 points, placing four runners among the top 14 finishers, and holding off second-place Akron by two points. Eastern Michigan won its third-straight title and 13th overall with 31 team points by placing seven finishers in the top 20. Miami (OH) was second at 50 points.

Veith Comes Close to Another Personal Best

Nicole Soblosky

Veith had a strong race for the Bulls, finishing in third place among 104 runners representing all 12 MAC women's programs. Veith turned in a 5K time of 17:48.6, just three seconds off her personal-best mark set two weeks ago at the Bowling Green Falcon Invite in preparation for Saturday's race. Veith earned her second-straight spot on the All-MAC first team. She finished second at last year's MAC Championships, hosted by Buffalo in muddy conditions. The top seven finishers earn First Team All-MAC honors while the next seven finishers are placed on the second-team. Sophomore Nicole Soblosky (Colonie, NY/Colonie) finished 15th overall, just missing out on the second-team honors. Soblosky completed the course in 18:16.8, just eight-tenths of a second behind the 14th-place runner, and final All-MAC honoree, Ohio's Julia Weisenborn.

Rounding out UB's scoring runners were Jessica Schultz (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) in 71st place in 19:39.0, Megan Niblock (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) in 79th place in 19:56.5 and Amy Trumpfheller (Clarence, NY/Clarence) in 88th place in 20:17.0.

Giza Leads Men’s Squad As Usual

Dan Giza

In the men's meet, senior Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) was UB's top finisher. Giza completed the 8K course in 25:49.8 to place 26th overall among 76 runners from the nine MAC men's teams. Hoping for a spot in the top 20, Giza just missed the milestone, finishing 11 seconds behind the 20th-place finisher. Giza has been UB’s top men’s finisher in all five of the races he has entered this season. Giza did not race in the season-opening Tommy Evans Invitational on September 8. Freshman Ryan Bloom (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) was UB's second male finisher in 26:06.7 for 34th place. Jason Ayr (Westfield, MA/Westfield) placed 39th in 26:25.9. Jesse Mang (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) was 44th in 26:38.1. Scott Dickover (Middletown, NY/Middletown) and Dan Healy (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) placed 49th and 50th, respectively. Dickover finished in 26:51.3, while Healy crossed the finish line in 26:57.4.

Regional Competition Awaits

The Bulls travel to Boston’s Franklin Park for the NCAA's Northeast Regional meet on November 10. Vieth earned an All-Northeast nod at last year’s race in New York City, finishing 18th. The top 25 finishers in the men’s and women’s races earn the All-Northeast distinction.