CROSS COUNTRY

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Jenny Koeppel

AKRON, OH - The University at Buffalo men's and women's cross country teams raced in the 2003 Mid-American Conference Championships Saturday at the Mayfair Country Club in Akron, Ohio. UB's women took ninth overall in a field of 13 schools with 248 points while the men's team placed 10th among the 12-team field with 264 points. Ball State's women (73) and Central Michigan's men (46) earned the team titles.

Buffalo junior Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst) earned Second-Team All-MAC honors with her finish in the women's 5K race. Koeppel placed ninth overall among 104 entrants in 17:50.3, knocking 17 seconds off her previous 5K best of 18:07.26 set in September. Miami's Andrea Kremer took the individual title in 17:16.2. The top six finishers earned First-Team All-MAC recognition while the next six received the second-team honors.

Joel Beatty

Jen Jezorski (Elmira, NY/Elmira Southside) finished in 43rd place in 18:52.9 for the Bulls' next top finisher. Hollie Rhodes (Elmira, NY/Elmira Southside) was 60th in 19:11.6. Jennie Donofrio (Penfield, NY/Penfield) was 68th in 19:20.3. Megan Housel (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) rounded out Buffalo's scoring in 75th place in 19:31.9. All finishes were season-bests for the four runners.

In the men's 8K competition, UB's top finisher was senior Joel Beatty (Holley, NY/Holley) in 50th place overall in 26:00.9 as 96 men crossed the finish line. Joining Beatty for the Bulls was Andy Wigton (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) in 57th in 26:17.7. Dan McKenna (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was 59th in 26:22.2. Ben Cady (Buffalo, NY/City Honors) placed 61st in a season-best 26:25.1 while Jeff Czyz (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West) closed the Bulls' scoring with 68th-place finish in 26:48.3.

Eastern Michigan's Gavin Thompson defended his title by breaking his own MAC record to win the men's race in 23:39.9, slicing more than 10 seconds off his previous record set last season.

UB will continue the postseason on November 15 when they travel to the NCAA Northeastern Regional Meet to be held in Boston's Franklin Park.