UB Cross Country Weekly Release

UB Men Post Best MAC Finish in Nine Years

The University at Buffalo men’s cross country team earned its highest finish since 2001 as the Bulls placed fifth among the nine competiting schools at the Mid-American Conference Championships held at Ohio University on Saturday. The Bulls, ranked 15th in the latest Northeast Regional poll according to the USTFCCCA, scored a total of 147 points to secure the fifth-place team finish. All four of the MAC schools to finish ahead of the Bulls, Kent State (30), Eastern Michigan (55), Central Michigan (59), and Miami (95) were ranked among the top 15 in the Great Lakes region. The UB women scored a total of 317 points to finish 12th among the 12 MAC women’s teams. Miami won the league championship with 44 points.

Pollow Grabs All-MAC Honors

Dennis Pollow

Topping the Bulls’ men’s finishers was Dennis Pollow. Pollow, who joined the UB program this season as a graduate student after spending the last four years at Penn State, grabbed a 14th-place finish to secure a spot on the All-MAC Second Team. Pollow completed the 8K course in 26:26.4, just four-tenths of a second behind the 13th-placer, Joe Purpura of Kent State (26:26.0). This was the second consecutive season that UB has placed a men’s runner among the All-MAC honorees and the ninth straight season that the Bulls have had at least one male or female individual earn All-MAC. Ryan Bloom, a first-team All-MAC recipient in 2008, was UB’s next male finisher in 26:47.6 to place 22nd. Chris Allen was 35th in 27:12.2, Jacob Hagen was 36th in 27:14.2 and Dylan Conway was 42nd in 27:31.2 to round out the top five finishers for the Bulls.

Ellen Muster

Ellen Muster was the top UB women’s finisher in 24:10.2 to take 47th place among 104 entrants on the 6K course. Freshman Katie Sanders was UB’s next finisher in 24:23.6 for 58th place.Jackie Bozich was 74th in 25:03.4 with freshmen Sam Beim and Leah Wightman taking 76th and 77th place, respectively. Beim finished in 25:09.5 and Wightman crossed the finish line in 25:10.8.

Northeast Regionals On the Horizon

The Bulls travel to Boston for the NCAA Northeast Regional meet on Saturday, November 14. The men’s meet, a 10K race, is set to begin at 2:30 pm while the women’s 6K run will start at 3:30 pm. Both races are at Franklin Park. The UB men have finished 18th the past two seasons while the women placed 17th last year, one spot up from their 18th-place showing in 2007, the last time the meet was held in Boston. The top 25 finishers in each race earn All-Northeast honors as spots in the upcoming NCAA National Championships are on the line at the meet.