If nice guys finish last, Dan McKenna must be one of the meanest guys around.
McKenna earned honors at the Northeast regional on Saturday with a 19th-place finish in a pool of 232. McKenna completed a 10K course in 30:50.9, a full two minutes faster than last year's performance.
McKenna's impressive effort came as no surprise to head coach Vicki Mitchell.
"McKenna has been leading the team every weekend that we have raced so far," Mitchell said. "It sets a good pace for all the runners."
The rest of the men's cross country team also managed decent placing in the NCAA qualifier at Franklin Park in Boston.
Junior Andy Leonard finished 62nd in 31:50.1, followed closely by senior Matt Moynihan who placed 96th in 32:44.3, freshman Dan Healy who took 98th place in 32:47.0 and junior Paul Riley who captured a spot in 100th place with a time of 32:48.4.
The team competitions also showed promise for the UB men as they scored 368 points to finish 11th out of 37 teams, the best-ever finish for UB men's cross-country team competition.
"It was really an exceptional team performance," Mitchell said. "Every one of the athletes had great races. Some of the men, like Matt Moynihan, even had career days."
Not to be outshined by the outstanding day the men were having, the women of the Bulls' cross-country team rose to the occasion. Senior Jen Jezorski led the way with a 42nd-place finish among a pool of 254 women.
Among the other women finishing in the top 100 were sophomore Aleksandra Bykowska who was 85th with a time of 22:50.4, freshman Mary Veith who placed 88th in 22:52.2 and freshman Jessica O'Neill who took the 93rd spot with her season-best time of 22:55.0.
In the team competitions, the women finished with 435 points to place 16th out of a field of 38 teams.
"The women's team is a very young team," Mitchell said. "A 16th-place finish shows a great effort."
The weather couldn't have been better in Boston on Saturday. Sixty degrees and sunny made for ideal running conditions that complimented athletes from every competing school.
"It was chilly in the morning but we didn't run until the afternoon," Mitchell said. "It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold and since some of my athletes don't run well in the heat while others don't run well in the cold, it was really perfect for everyone."
The inner workings of a regional meet are very familiar to Mitchell, who is in her seventh year as head coach of the men and women's cross country teams. Mitchell said that the country is split up into seven regions and UB competes in the Northeast region, which includes New York State and New England schools.
"All the schools come together at one location-this year it was in Boston-and each school enters their top seven runners," Mitchell said. "The top two teams automatically qualify and the top four individuals automatically qualify for the NCAA championship."
The fact that the pressure was on in this race to make the final championship match didn't affect the Bulls' strategy at all.
"We take the same approach that we do for any other races," Mitchell said. "It could potentially be the last race of the season for these athletes so it's just a matter of going out there and when you don't think you can work any harder, you've just got to pick it up another notch."
The women of the Bulls' cross-country team did indeed finish its season on Saturday while the men look forward to one last race next weekend at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the IC4A Championships.



