BUFFALO — The Buffalo State men’s and women’s cross country teams are getting ready to head to Letchworth State Park to compete in the 2016 SUNYAC Championships, hosted by Geneseo, that takes place this Saturday.
The women’s 6K race is set to start at 11 a.m. with the men’s 8K race following at noon.
Both teams wrapped up their regular seasons at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble back on Oct. 15 and look to improve on post season performances of the past.
The men’s team is composed of a young core of runners who are starting to come into their own at the end of the season.
The team has been led by freshman Kevin Murnock (East Aurora/East Aurora) and junior Phil Giuga (Tonawanda/Tonawanda).
Murnock placed third in the Bengals opening Daniel Walker Invitational meet, ninth at the Washington and Jefferson Invitational and 17th at the Penn State Behrend Invitational. He was the top finisher for the Bengals in their past three meets and posted a top time of 26:46 in his last 8K race.
Giuga won the Daniel Walker Invitational, finished 10th at Penn State Behrend and came in 15th at the Washington and Jefferson Invitational. Like Murnock, his season-best time of 27:58 was set in his last meet.
Mitch Rabold (Amherst/Sweet Home) is also a runner with a high ceiling that has been hampered for much of this season by injury, but will look to make an impact at the conference meet.
On the women’s side, the top performers have been Ronni Kordrupel (East Aurora/Iroquois), Elizabeth Wall (Horseheads/Horseheads), and Jaclyn Tedesco (Cheektowaga/Cleveland Hill).
Kordrupel has been the top runner overall as she came in second at the Daniel Walker Invitational, third at Penn State Behrend, ninth at Washington and Jefferson, 24th (out of 255) at the Oberlin and 35th (out of 223) at the Harry F. Anderson Invitation at Roberts Wesleyan College. Her season-best time sits at 19:46.7 in the 5K.
Wall came in 35th with her season-best time of 19:45.9 at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational to give the Bengals two top-40 finishers in a large field. She also finished third at the Daniel Walker Invitational and 12th at Penn State Behrend.
Tedesco finished the Daniel Walker Invitational in third and added two top-25 finishes at Washington and Jefferson (21st) and Penn State Behrend (23rd). Her best time of the year was 20:25.3 at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational.
Saturday’s race is also the annual “Battle by the Lake”, the season long all sports competition between Buffalo State and Fredonia. The “Battle by the Lake” competition was created last season to enhance the rivalry between the two schools that share proximity to Lake Erie. Each sport in which the two schools compete is worth two points annually. In sports which meet once per regular season, each game is worth two points and ties are worth one point. In sports that play twice during the regular season (softball, men’s hockey and men’s and women’s basketball), each game will be worth one point, and ties will be worth a point. In the sports of cross country, swimming & diving, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, the team that finishes higher at the SUNYAC Championship meet will earn two points for its school. The school with the most points at the end of the season will earn the Lake Erie Cup and keep the cup on its campus for the following year (non-conference and postseason matchups will not count toward the Lake Erie Cup competition).
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