"McKenna finishes in top 15, leads Bulls in IC4A Championships"

There's not always a raucous crowd of thousands cheering him on, but junior Dan McKenna has quietly become one of UB's biggest athletic stars.

McKenna finished 12th out of a field of 174 on Saturday at the IC4A/ECAC Cross Country Championships. The race was held in the Bronx, N.Y. at Van Cortland Park.

The junior ran the five-mile course in just 25:24.8, adding another notch to his remarkable season. McKenna's coach was clearly impressed with the effort.

"To place in the top 15 in this race is a big thing," said head coach Vicki Mitchell. "He's had a breakthrough season."

Two additional UB runners finished in the top 100. Freshman Dan Healy, with a time of 26:40.1, placed 93rd, finishing just a second ahead of junior Andy Leonard. Leonard was 94th in a time of 26:41.9.

In his first-ever year of cross country competition, Healy ran an impressive race.

"For a freshman to run with that much control and aggressiveness in the middle part of the race was incredible," Mitchell said.

Closing out UB's top five scorers were junior Chris McClure and sophomore Dan Giza. McClure captured 128th place in 27:01.2 and Giza placed 142nd with a time of 27:21.0.

Following McClure and Giza were senior Matt Moynihan and juniors David Welby and Paul Riley. Moynihan finished in the 149th position in 27:32.5 and Welby ran the race in 27:42.9 to garner 156th. Riley ended the day for UB in 166th place with a time of 28:12.9.

UB was solely represented by the men's team, which finished 17th out of the 20 teams that competed in the championship race and managed to hold its own against some of the top competition in nation.

"I really didn't have a lot (of expectations) in terms of team placement because it's a very competitive meet," Mitchell said. "I think it's important to get a lot of experience and run hard. It was a valuable experience to run the course against top competition from around the country."

Overall, though, Mitchell thought it was a solid performance for the Bulls.

"They didn't run spectacular races but they put forth a good effort," Mitchell said. "They're just tired. They put forth everything they had."

After running in the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet only a week earlier, UB prepared for Saturday's match with a simple method of rest and recovery.

"For most of my athletes, it was their first 10K ever," Mitchell said about the regional. "It was really just trying to recover from last week."

UB raced in the championship division of the IC4A. Mitchell thought that the Bulls would have done better as a team in the university race, but saw the chance to run against teams such as Duke and Notre Dame as an invaluable lesson.

"I wanted them to have the experience," Mitchell said. "If we were in the university race we probably would have finished around eighth."

St. Francis (Penn.) senior Ryan Sheehan was tops in the individual race with a time of 24:58.9, a full three seconds ahead of second-comer C.W. Moran of James Madison.

The women's ECAC championships were also held Saturday but UB did not field a team in the event.

As UB's season comes to a close, Mitchell is all smiles.

"The men's team had an unbelievable season," Mitchell said. "If you would have looked at the men's team on paper you would have said no way would they have done anything. They defied the odds. It's a testament to training and dedication."

UB's runners will now look to the upcoming indoor track season. The first meet, Kent State's Black Squirrel Classic, is scheduled for Jan. 13 and 14.