They say you can't be in two places at once, but the UB men's and women's cross country teams managed the task last weekend as they spilt the squad up to compete in two different tournaments.
Last weekend most of the team ran in the Penn State National Open, while UB put seven other entrants in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational, hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester.
The best runner for the Bulls on the men's side at the Penn State Open was junior Dan McKenna. McKenna, who is looking to become Mid-American Conference runner of the week for the third consecutive week, placed ninth overall in the men's 5.2-mile course, dashing across the line in 25:36. His ninth-place finish Saturday was his fourth finish this year in the top ten.
Junior Andy Leonard and sophomore Dan Giza were the next two Bulls across the line. Leonard finished 98th in 26:48, while Giza finished 109th at 26:53.
The men's team as a whole finished in 17th place overall in a field of 37 teams with 526 points.
The first-place team on the men's side was conference foe Eastern Michigan. The Eagles finished with 100 points as they placed three runners in the top 20. Their strongest runner was junior Corey Nowitzke who finished in fifth at 25:26.
The women's team had a respectable showing at the Penn State Open as it finished tied for 16th with Syracuse University in a 34-team field. The Bulls were led by senior Jen Jezorski, who finished the 6K women's course in 55th place with a time of 22:21. The next finisher after Jezorski was the impressive freshman Mary Veith who completed the course just 29 seconds after her senior teammate at 22:50, finishing 90th.
Junior Kate Kohout also ran a solid race and finished 118th with a time of 23:13. The Bulls as a team totaled 458 points.
The number one, nationally ranked Duke Blue Devils won the women's event with 22 points. The Blue Devils placed all seven of their runners in the top 20, including each of the top three. Duke was led by senior runner Shannon Rowbury who finished in first at 20:34, one second ahead of second-place teammate senior Clara Horowitz.
The Bulls also had runners hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College that same day.
UB had seven entrants in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational, four of which were in the women's 5K event.
In that field of 108 runners, sophomore Susan Beatty had the most impressive performance. She finished 36th in a time of 21:35. Fellow sophomore Amy Trumpfheller finished next for the Bulls in 40th at 21:41. The other two women's entrants, senior Jennifer Redino and junior Michelle Quinn finished 48th and 69th respectively. Redino completed the race in 22:03 and Quinn crossed the line at 23:11.
The Rochester Institute of Technology had the first-place runner as senior Trisha Sliker completed the event in 18:45.
On the men's side, which featured 111 runners in an 8K event, junior Brian Smith placed 16th, running the course in 27:28. Behind Smith for the Bulls was junior Jeremy Gworek, who finished 23rd with a time of 27:56, and senior David Welby who finished 27th in 28:05.
The host school Roberts Wesleyan had the top finisher on the men's side as sophomore Julius Rono grabbed first place in the event with a time of 24:57.
The next event for the Bulls is the Cornell Invitational in Ithaca, NY on Friday. This will be the final event for UB before they place their focus on the MAC Championships on Saturday Oct. 29 in DeKalb, IL.
The men's team finished seventh in the MAC championship last year, as Central Michigan took the first place crown. McKenna looks to improve on his 26th-place finish last year.
The women's team finished fourth in last year's MAC as Kent State took first place. Graduate Jennifer Koeppel won the event for UB last year. In her absence this year, senior Kelli O'Brien, who finished 12th last year, sophomore Aleksandra Bykowska, who finished 22nd last year, and Jezorski who came in 25th last year, look to improve their times to bring the MAC crown to UB.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
