On Saturday, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held the 2007 Cross Country Championships in Mt. Pleasant, MI, with Central Michigan University hosting the events. Both Bulls teams ran as best as they could, with the women placing 10th among 12 schools, while the men finished seventh in a nine-team field. Junior Mary Veith led the Bulls, and was named to the All-MAC team.
In the women's championship run, the Ohio Bobcats were victorious, giving them back-to-back conference titles and their 10th overall championship in school history, the most by any MAC member. Carime Reinhart, last year's individual champion, led the team; she finished fifth in the race with a time of 17:51. Teammates Annie Beecham and Kari Summers finished right behind her in sixth and seventh, with times of 17:55 and 17:56, respectively.
Laura Neufarth of Miami University (OH) was the individual champion, completing the 5K run in 17:35, which helped the RedHawks earn a third-place finish. Neufarth battled with Ball State's Allison Bishel for most of the race, but in the end pulled away for the victory.
Veith ran strong for the Bulls, finishing in third place among 104 runners from all 12 MAC women's teams. Veith completed the 5K run in 17:48, three seconds off her personal-best. Veith earned her second-straight spot on the All-MAC team in the race, as she finished in second place at last year's championship. Sophomore Nicole Soblosky finished 15th overall, one place shy of second-team MAC honors. Soblosky completed the course in 18:16, eight-tenths of a second behind the 14th place runner, Ohio's Julia Weisenborn.
Other runners who helped to round out Buffalo's scoring were junior Jessica Schultz, freshman Megan Niblock, and senior Amy Trumpfheller. Schultz finished in 71st place in 19:39, with Niblock finishing in 79th place in 19:56 and Trumpfheller finishing in 88th place with a time of 20:17.
Ohio head coach Clay Calkins took home Women's Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. It was the eighth time a Bobcat women's cross-country coach had earned the honor.
On the men's side of the championship, the Eastern Michigan Eagles were victorious, earning their third-straight team championship. Josh Perrin, the individual champion for the race, helped lead the Eagles to their first-place position.
Perrin finished the 8K race in 24:33, edging out Ohio's Craig Leon by four seconds for the top spot. It was the second consecutive season and the seventh time in nine seasons that an Eagle runner claimed the top spot. Eastern Michigan had three additional runners finish in the top five, helping the team achieve their first-place victory.
Buffalo's top finisher in the meet was senior Dan Giza, who completed the course in 25:49, to place 26th overall among the 76 runners participating. Freshman Ryan Bloom was the second male finisher for the Bulls, finishing the race in 26:06 for 34th place. Sophomore Jason Ayr finished in 26:25 to finish in 39th, while senior Jesse Mang finished in 26:38 for 44th place. Sophomore Scott Dickover and junior Dan Healy placed 49th and 50th, respectively. Dickover finished the meet in 26:51, while Healy finished in 26:57.
Eastern Michigan head coach John Goodridge took home Men's Coach of the Year honors for the third-consecutive season.
Even though MAC play is completed, the Bulls are not yet done for the season. They will travel to Boston for the NCAA's Northeast Regional Meet on Nov. 10 for their second-to-last competition.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
