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Jenny Koeppel

TOLEDO, OH - The University at Buffalo's women's cross country team scored its best-ever finish on Saturday at the Mid-American Conference Championships with a fourth-place showing with senior Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst) winning the women's 5K race and earning First Team All-MAC honors. UB's men took seventh overall, an improvement of three spots from last year's 10th-place finish. The MAC Championships were held at Toledo's Ottawa Park Golf Course.

Kent State won its first women's championship, scoring 84 points to hold off second-place Ball State with 86 points. Akron was third with 106 with UB, a close fourth, at 108 points and host Toledo fifth with 124. Miami (134), Bowling Green (140), Western Michigan (157), Northern Illinois (201), Ohio (255), Eastern Michigan (296), Central Michigan (303) and Marshall (430) rounded out the women's field. Central Michigan captured the men's championship for the third consective year, scoring 31 points among the 10 squads. Miami was second with 57 points. Kent State (86), Ohio (107), Eastern Michigan (116), Akron (148), UB (196), Marshall (257), Toledo (258) and Bowling Green (262) completed the men's field.

In the women's race, Koeppel completed the 5K course in 17:51.70, finishing seven seconds ahead of Ball State's Jill Scully (17:58.05). Koeppel and Scully, the two fastest runners in the MAC this season, broke away from the pack at the 3,000-meter mark with Koeppel taking the lead shortly thereafter and not relinquishing the spot. Koeppel's time was the second-fastest of the season for the senior. She turned in a 17:39 on the same course when she won the Central Collegiate Invitational on September 18. This is Koeppel's second MAC championship and first on the cross country course. Koeppel won the MAC's 10,000-meter run at last season's Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

"Jenny Koeppel ran a textbook-perfect race," said UB head coach Vicki Mitchell. "Everything that she trained for all season came out for her to be MAC champion. Jenny just ran spectacular."

Kelli O'Brien

UB's Kelli O'Brien (Clifton Springs, NY/Manchester-Shortsville) also ran a strong race on Saturday, finishing in 18:42.20 to take 12th place and the final spot on the All-MAC Second Team. The top six finishers earn First Team All-MAC recognition while the next six are named to the Second Team.

Other UB women's finishers included Aleksandra Bykowska (Poznan, Poland/Third High School in Poznan) in a season-best 19:01.30 for 22nd, Jen Jezorski (Elmira, NY/Elmira Southside) in 19:03.30 for 25th and Jennie Donofrio (Pittsford, NY/Penfield) in 19:38.95 for 49th.

Dan McKenna

For the UB men, sophomore Dan McKenna (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was the top finisher in the 8K event in 26:17.20 to finish 26th overall. Ben Cady (Buffalo, NY/City Honors) was 38th in 26:47.60. Steve Strelick (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) was 44th in 26:59.05 with Andy Wigton (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) 49th in 27:10.60. Central Michigan's Tristen Perlberg won the individual title in 24:42.25, 12 seconds ahead second-place David Mitchell of Miami.

"The women's race was exactly what I had expected in terms of the top five teams being very close points-wise," said Mitchell. "We're definitely moving in the right direction. It was good stuff today. It was an exciting race in incredibly windy conditions. The rain held off for the race. It poured this morning and all day yesterday."