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Cross Country Weekly Release

Women 15th, Men 22nd at Northeast Regionals

The Bulls raced at the NCAA’s Northeast Regional Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx with success for the UB women as they placed 15th among 37 squads, scoring 423 points. The UB men earned 603 points to place 22nd among 38 schools. Boston College edged Iona 82-85 to take the women’s team title while Iona won the men’s team title with 59 points with Providence placing second at 72 points. The top two teams in the men’s and women’s competitions earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, IN on November 20.

Veith Collects All-Northeast Honors

Mary Veith

Sophomore Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) earned All-Northeast honors as she finished 18th in a field of 228 runners to become the third UB runner in three years to pick up All-Northeast recognition. Veith completed the 6K course in 21:56.7. The time was nearly a minute faster than her time at last season’s regional race in Boston when she finished 88th in 22:52.2. Iona senior Salome Kosgei won the women’s individual title in 20:45.3, six-tenths of a second faster than Yale’s Lindsay Donaldson.

For the third straight year a UB runner has achieved All-Northeast status by finishing in the top 25 at the regional championships. Jenny Koeppel finished ninth in the 2004 women’s meet while Dan McKenna (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was 19th in last season’s men’s competition. McKenna did not race for the Bulls in Saturday’s meet.

Joining Veith among the UB finishers were junior Aleksandra Bykowska (Pozan, Poland/Third High School in Poznan) and senior Kate Kohout (Clarence, NY/Clarence). Bykowska finished 70th in 23:16.7 while Kohout placed 85th in 23:33.7, cutting 25 seconds from last season’s finish.

The remainder of the UB women’s finishers included Jessica Schultz (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) finishing 115th in 24:08.3, Karen Corey (Kingston, NY/Kingston) was 138th in 24:32.6, Jennie Donofrio (Pittsford, NY/Penfield) placed 164th in 25:12.4 and Christine Sprehe (Boston, NY/Orchard Park) took 171st in 25:19.3.

Andy Leonard Tops Men’s Contingent

Senior Andy Leonard (Spencerport, NY/Churchville-Chili) was the top men’s finisher for the Bulls. Leonard conquered the 10K course in 32:57.2 to place 35th overall, a vast improvement for the senior who placed 62nd at last season’s meet in Boston.

Junior Jesse Mang (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) was UB’s next finisher in 35:08.6 to place 131st among 230 runners. Senior Paul Riley (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) finished 139th in 35:17.5. Providence senior Martin Fagan won the men’s individual title in 30:40.7, more than 45 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Rounding out the UB men’s scoring was David Welby (Somers, NY/Somers) in 35:41.2 for 156th place and Jason Ayr (Westfield, MA/Westfield) in 36:00.8 for 163rd place.

The 2006 Season is Now Complete

With the NCAA Northeast Regionals completed, the Bulls bid adieu to the 2006 cross country season. Originally on the schedule for this coming weekend, UB decided not to send teams to the ECAC/IC4A Championships in favor of resting the athletes before concentrating on the opening of the indoor track and field season in January.