The University at Buffalo's men's and women's cross country teams kicked off their 2003 season at the University of Akron's Tommy Evans Invitational this past Saturday.
The Indigo Lake Course on Howe Meadow of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park was the site for the inaugural meet, which featured both teams coming home with a well- deserved second place finish.
The UB men scored 52 points to place second behind Mid-American Conference opponent Kent State, which had a perfect score of 15. The UB women also finished second with a score of 43 points as Akron, who finished first, posted a score of 29 points.
Both squads did extremely well, each placing second among a field of conference opponents. In the men's four-mile race, the Bulls, led by sophomore Andy Wigton and freshman Dan McKenna, placed sixth and seventh behind a run of the top-five positions by Kent State. Wigton clocked a 20:47 and McKenna was hot on his heels at a 20:48, behind winners Ofer Barniv and James Sjostrom, who each turned in a time of 20:27.
In the women's five-kilometer race, Buffalo picked up a noteworthy performance by junior Jenny Koeppel, who placed second in the field with a time of 18:26, thirteen seconds behind the overall leader, Akron's Morgan Sulzener. Also in the top ten for Buffalo were junior Peg Melonic and sophomore Jen Jezorski, who placed fifth with an 18:58 and seventh with a 19:15 respectively.
Both Bulls squads return to Ohio next week for their next meet, which takes them to Oxford for the Miami Fall Classic, hosted by Miami of Ohio.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
