Heading into the Bowling Green Falcon Invitational, the men's and women's cross-country team wanted to send a message to their Mid-American Conference opponents: the Bulls are not to be taken lightly.
When all was said and done, Buffalo delivered. The men's team finished three points behind Toledo, taking second place out of 11 teams with 68 overall points. The women's team was placed third with 63 points, trailing only behind Bowling Green and Toledo.
Head coach Vicki Mitchell was somewhat upset, considering how close the men's team came to winning the invitational.
"We were a little disappointed," Mitchell said. "Coming up three points behind Toledo for first place is a tough one to take. One of our guys didn't have a real good race and I'm hopeful that at our conference meet we'll be able to go after them pretty fierce."
Sophomore Ryan Bloom was placed third in the men's 8K run with a time of 25:03:82. The effort was a season best for Bloom, as his previous mark set at the Paul Short Invite earlier in the year was 25:46. Siena Heights sophomore Alex Russcau finished six seconds ahead of Bloom en route to setting a SHU sophomore record. Bloom was the top MAC performer in a field of 108 runners.
Bloom's performance impressed Mitchell at the end of the invite.
"Ryan finally ran an aggressive race, especially in the second half," Mitchell said. "It was really good for his confidence."
Mitchell was happy that the men's team carried out the game plan.
"The guys ran real smart races," Mitchell said. "Their goal was to run controlled for three miles and really hammer out the last two. They executed that well, so I'm pleased from that perspective."
In addition, Mitchell thought sophomore Chris Allen ran a really strong race. He ran the course in 25:45:60 giving him a 16th place finish.
On the women's side, senior Mary Veith continues to lead the Bulls after running another great race. She finished in third place in the 6K race with a time of 22:01:96. Seniors Kara Butler and Jamie Roflow of Bowling Green finished first and second respectively for the Falcons. The MAC dominated the day, posting the top 11 finishers and 19 of the top 20.
Senior Jessica Schultz was next best for the Bulls posting a time of 22:23:09 and finishing in fifth place. That time marked a season best for Schultz who really impressed Mitchell.
"Jessica had a huge break-through race," Mitchell said. "I was really pleased with her performance, time and place. She finished fifth overall out of a field of 120 and significantly improved her time over last year. It was just a really great improvement for her."
Mitchell felt sophomores Ellen Muster, Brittany Chilson, Megan Niblock and Jackie Bozich showed good teamwork out on the course.
"They worked really well together as a unit," Mitchell said. "They train together when we do our workouts. I felt today was the first day they really used each other in the race very well. Muster had a very strong race. I liked how they pulled each other through the race and from that perspective they did well."
The course at Bowling Green provided a nice tuneup for the Bulls going into the MAC Championship.
"The course itself is a fast running course," Mitchell said. "The times were very fast for our team. It really provided a great tuneup to run on such a fast course."
According to Mitchell, the competition at the conference championship will be difficult.
"On the women's side," Mitchell said. "Miami (Ohio) and the University of Akron are the two dominating teams. I expect those two teams to be out in front and uncontested by any other teams in our conference. On the men's side, Eastern Michigan and Miami (OH) are definitely in a league of their own. After that, I see it being a dog fight for third through ninth place."
The Bulls look ahead to Nov. 1 for the MAC Championships, hosted by Eastern Michigan. The men are scheduled for an 11 a.m. start while the women will race at noon.
