The men’s cross country team started out the Fall 2004 season with a trip to SUNY Brockport, where they faced off against six other schools from upstate New York. With 63 total points the UR men finished in second place, falling only to the host team, which posted 32 points.
Clarkson University came in third place with 94 points, followed by SUNY Oswego with 103. With 123 points, Mohawk Valley Community College placed fifth. SUNY Oneonta was sixth with 148 points, and Mansfield came in seventh with 174 points.Leading the way for the UR team was senior Dan Duett, who posted a time of 20:30 for the six kilometer race, finishing in sixth place out of more than 90 runners. Junior Chris Nolan was not far behind, placing eighth with a time of 20:47.
With a time of 21:00, sophomore Andrew Whitbeck earned 14th place. Senior Peter Nabozny placed 18th overall with a time of 21:12. Freshman Dan Mueller got his collegiate career off to a solid start, finishing in 21:16 to place 20th.
Four more UR men placed within the top 30 spots, although they would not factor in the scoring.
The women’s cross country team placed third out of seven teams, as they posted 58 points, coming up just short in a hotly contested three-way battle for first place. With 51 points, the SUNY Brockport team led the way, completing the sweep of both the men’s and women’s events. Brockport’s 51-point total was just enough to edge out the Clarkson women, who posted 52 points.
Behind the UR women in third place was Mansfield with 94 points. SUNY Oneonta was fifth with 139 points, and Mohawk Valley Community College won the battle to stay out of last place, scoring 160 points to hold off SUNY Oswego with 161.
The women were led by a newcomer to the team, junior Chris Michael, who makes the transition from soccer to cross country. Michael earned third place with a time of 15:56 in her first collegiate cross country meet. With a time of 16:18, junior Jessica VanBinsbergen placed fifth overall.
Freshman Kellie Hasselwander was third among the UR women and 15th overall, completing the four kilometer race in 16:57. Coming in back-to-back in 17th and 18th places were junior Kate Pohlman and freshman Stephanie Holowacz, who posted respective times of 17:05 and 17:07. Four additional members of the women’s team managed to finish among the top 30 overall.
The men’s and women’s teams will stay much closer to home this Saturday when they head to the Rochester Institute of Technology in a meet that includes Fredonia.
Swidler can be reached at dswidler@campustimes.org.
