On Friday, the cross-country team headed into Bethlehem, Pa. to face tough competition throughout the nation.
By the end of the meet, the Bulls needed to get back to the drawing board.
Both the men and women's teams faced tough competition, with the men finishing 34th of 45 teams and the women finishing 26th out of 43 teams. The men scored 913 points while the women scored 755 points.
Head coach Vicki Mitchell felt that the teams were not as competitive as they have been in recent years. While they didn't meet their best, Mitchell stated that nearly every runner improved their times from the year before.
"They continue to improve each week in the way that they race and in their time," Mitchell said.
The times were significantly faster with differences ranging from 30 seconds to one minute and 15 seconds faster than the year before.
The women's team defeated UMass, Marist College, Colgate University and Binghamton University, five teams that the Bulls have not beat in the past. She was happy, though, because they beat teams this year that they haven't beaten in years past
The men's team on the other hand, beat the same teams that they have defeated in the past. Mitchell attributes this to the fact that the team is very young, with their top runners featuring only freshmen and sophomores.
Two of the top runners for the women's team were seniors Mary Veith and Jessica Shultz. Veith stayed strong with the rest of the pack, while Shultz ran 45 seconds better than the year before.
On the men's side, the team's top finisher was sophomore Jacob Hagen. Sophomore Ryan Bloom earned second place for the Bulls. Mitchell said that Hagen definitely took advantage of his race.
Mitchell feels that the Bulls trained enough for the hilly terrain the teams came to expect.
"We train to run on courses like this, rolling hills, grass and a lot of turns," Mitchell said.
During the meet, Mitchell made sure that her teams focused mainly on their northeastern and New York counterparts. The teams honed in on Marist, Colgate, UMass and Army. Mitchell said that these teams have good reputations and good running programs.
Mitchell was hoping for the women's team to be in the top 20 and for the men's team to be in the top 25.
"It's very easy to get separated off the starting line and if you're running with the guys that you train with normally, it gives you a much better sense of the pacing and how to approach the race," Mitchell said.
Even though that the teams didn't place exactly as well as Mitchell would have hoped, many of the runners themselves improved individually.
The teams will take nearly two weeks off before their next meet. They will head to Ohio to visit conference-rival Bowling Green at the BGSU Falcon Invite on Oct. 18.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
