Bulls run for a championship

The cross country team impressed this weekend at the Mid-American Conference Championships on Saturday.

The Bulls traveled to Kalamazoo, Mich. to compete against the best that the MAC has to offer. The men placed sixth out of nine teams and the women finished 11 out of 12 MAC squads. Both the men's and women's teams impressed their coach with their performance this weekend.

"Overall, I was very pleased with how the men and women ran," said head coach Vicki Mitchell. "I thought that the women exceeded what my expectations were in most cases…and all of the guys really ran the best race of the season."

The men were led by senior Ryan Bloom, who finished 13th in the field of 75 in the men's 8k with an overall time of 25:09.4. His performance earned him All-MAC second team honors. This marks the third consecutive year that the Bulls have had a runner receive all-league honors.

"Bloom had a phenomenal race," Mitchell said. "[Making all-conference] is something that he has worked really hard for; it was a very special achievement for him, especially as a senior."

The rest of the men's squad also turned in excellent performances. Junior John Inzina missed an all-league second honors by two seconds with a time of 25:15.7.

The women's team was paced by graduate student Christine Sprehe, whose time of 22:40.2 put her in 45th out of 105 runners in the women's 6k. Sophomore Sam Beim was the Bulls' second finisher with a time of 22:49.4.

Sophomore Katie Sanders didn't race up to personal expectations, but it was due to outside factors.

"Sanders had a really tough race," Mitchell said. "She was pretty sick, so I felt bad that she could not perform on the level that she wanted."

The team is now focusing on recovery. The Bulls will have some time off, as their next race will be at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships in Madison, Conn. on Nov. 13.