"We must protect this house!" yells the man in the Under Armor commercial. The men and women's cross-country teams did just that over the weekend. In its one and only home meet of the season, the men's squad snagged a first-place finish, while the women's squad finished second.
The men's team picked up its first victory of the season, totaling 22 points to hold off the Colgate squad who finished with 36 points.
Senior Dan Giza grabbed the victory on the men's side, finishing the 8K course with a time of 26:14.6. He defeated second-place finisher Lyle Tolli of Colgate by more than 10 seconds. Giza passed Tolli at the two-mile mark and never looked back.
Sophomore Jason Ayr finished in third place with a time of 26:37.4. Behind Giza and Ayr, the Bulls picked up spots fifth through eighth. Freshman Ryan Bloom, junior Dan Healy, senior Jesse Mang and freshman Jacob Hagan earned those spots, respectively.
Head Coach Vicki Mitchell was very pleased with the effort of her male runners during Saturday's meet.
"The men's team ran a very good, well-planned race," Mitchell said. "They were able to work together with their pace groups through 3km, and they were very strong over the last 2 km of the race."
Mitchell thinks that closing races will be key in future events.
"That closing strength will help build confidence as we look ahead to future events," she said.
The women's team was unable to capture first place, picking up 38 points compared to Colgate's 23.
Junior Mary Veith won the women's race, running the 5K course with a time of 18:39.6. She gained the lead halfway through the race and increased her distance until the time she crossed the finish line.
The next fastest runner for the Bulls was sophomore Nicole Soblosky. She finished the course in 19:27.6, which was good enough for fifth place. Freshman Megan Niblock followed Soblosky and finished in 15th place. She ran the course in 20:34.9.
Mitchell was pleased with the results of the women's team, regardless of the loss.
"The women's team ran quite well," Mitchell said. "Mary Veith and Nicole Soblosky ran according to the plan of controlled 3km and hard last 2km. We have several freshmen getting stronger each week, too, such as Megan Niblock. The women continue to work hard and train smart."
With the team on the road for the last two weeks, the runners were able to return home and run on a course they were used to. Mitchell believes it was good for the team to finally run at home.
"Our team looks forward to our home invitational each year so we can not only run in front of our home crowd and support, but also to have a break from the demands of traveling," Mitchell said. "They are able to have a little more rest over the weekend as well as more time to apply to studies."
With a good amount of underclassmen scoring big points for the Bulls, the future is bright. Coach Mitchell is excited about the progress of her team, knowing that it is still a young and relatively inexperienced squad.
"It is very exciting, knowing how young both teams are and their work ethic is strong," she said. "They are only going to get better. They have great role models to follow in our upperclassmen."
Coach Mitchell knows that all of the team's big meets are remaining, and that they will be able to assess the team's progress in the upcoming weeks.
"It is very early, still," Mitchell said. "With our bigger meets lying ahead, we will continue with the same process of training hard, building great race strength and looking forward to each competition and the opportunities it provides."
The Bulls will travel to Bethlehem, PA for a meet on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. Both teams will compete in the Lehigh Paul Short Invite. Over 200 runners will be participating in the meet.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
