Speedster Dan McKenna became the first UB athlete of the year to earn first-team All-Mid-American Conference honors as he finished seventh at the MAC Championships on Saturday.
The men's and women's teams finished seventh and ninth respectively at Anderson Field in DeKalb, Ill. The junior McKenna drastically improved on last year's 26th-place finish as he tore across the line at 24:51 in the men's 8K race, finishing in the top ten for the fifth time this season.
"He made the rest of the field run an honest race," said UB head coach Vicki Mitchell in a press release. "He did what he had to do."
The rest of the scoring on the men's side was modest, but respectable. In a field of 77 runners, junior Andy Leonard finished at 25:55 for his 23rd place finish. Sophomore Dan Giza and freshman Dan Healy finished 27th and 37th respectively for the Bulls with times of 26:06 and 26:27 while junior Paul Riley placed 45th with his 26:45 time.
On the women's side, senior Jen Jezorski ran her best race of the season earning an impressive 14th-place finish on the women's 5K course. Jezorski finished in 18:15, bettering her previous best for the season by ten seconds.
"Jen Jezorski should be very pleased with her race," Mitchell said in a press release about the senior's race.
Jezorski took her game up a notch in Saturday's race and her effort didn't go unnoticed as she received second-team All-MAC honors.
The overall scoring for the women was slightly disappointing. In the field of 104 runners, sophomore Aleksandra Bykowska crossed the line at 18:51 to finish 32nd for the Bulls, while junior Kate Kohout placed 53rd overall at the 19:15 mark. Freshman Mary Veith placed 63rd with a time of 19:31.
Senior Kelli O'Brien, looking to equal or better her 12th place finish in last year's MAC Championships which garnered her All-MAC second-team honors, where she finished with a season-best time of 19:17. However, Bykowska was unable to repeat last year's performance, finishing 55th overall.
Miami's senior Dan Huling was the individual MAC Champion on the men's side taking the crown with a time of 24:21. His performance was not enough for a team title though as Eastern Michigan won in team scoring with 38 points. Miami finished behind them with 64 points followed by Ohio (101), Kent State (120), Central Michigan (132), Akron (135), UB (137), Bowling Green (229) and Toledo (273).
Akron senior Beata Rudzinska was the women's individual MAC Champion. Rudzinska ran through the tape at 17:24. She became only the second runner in Akron school history to take home a MAC title. The senior's performance led Akron to a team victory finishing with 41 points, 23 ahead of second-place Toledo who tallied 64 points. Ball State (117) finished third, followed by Ohio (122), Miami (132), Western Michigan (135), Kent State (183), UB (212), Bowling Green (215), Eastern Michigan (284) and Northern Illinois (320).
The men's and women's conference coaches of the year were also announced. Eastern Michigan coach John Goodridge received MAC Men's Coach of the Year and Akron coach Scott Jones was recognized as MAC Women's Coach of the Year.
The Bulls will run next at the NCAA Northeast Regionals in Boston, Mass., on Nov. 12. The women's team, led by Jezorkski, looks to improve their impressive ninth place finish at last year's regionals. The men, who had a disappointing 22nd place finish last year, seek to rally behind McKenna in hopes of gaining momentum in these last weeks remaining in the cross-country season.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
