BUFFALO STATE ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo State men’s and women’s cross country teams will head to Fredonia, N.Y. this Saturday to compete in the SUNYAC Championships.
The women’s 6K is slated to begin at 11:15 a.m. followed by the men’s 8K starting at 12:15 p.m.
On the women’s side, Ronni Kordrupel (East Aurora/Iroquois) has delivered a pair of record-breaking performances to pace the Bengals this season.
Kordrupel broke the 22-year old record for a 5K at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Sept. 22, finishing as the top Division III runner with a time of 18:39. In her next 5K race, Kordrupel shattered her own record, finishing behind only three Division I competitors at the Canisius College Alumni Classic with a time of 18:19. She also posted her best 6K time at the Paul Short College Invitational, placing third out of 357 runners with a time of 23:04. Kordrupel became Buffalo State’s first All-SUNYAC performer since 2009 at last year’s championship and is looking to improve on her 10th-place, second team all-conference finish in her final year.
Olivia Ryan (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) is a senior transfer from Geneseo looking to make a statement performance at the Championships following her season-best time of 25:40 in the 6K.
Freshman Josh Glaub (West Seneca/West Seneca East) and senior Greg Avila-Shah (Lewiston/Lewiston-Porter) have set the pace for the men’s team, finishing as the Bengals’ top runner in each of five meets this season.
Glaub recorded his best 8K time of the season at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational, placing 33rd with a time of 27:14. He also posted a top-5 finish in his first collegiate meet at the Daniel Walker Invitational and ran a 27:26 8K in the Canisius College Alumni Classic. Avila-Shah paced the Bengals finishing 74th (28:11) and 78th(28:59) at the Paul Short College Invitational and the University of Rochester Invitational respectively.
Kevin Murnock (East Aurora/East Aurora) is another runner poised to have an impact at the conference meet following a return from an injury that has set him back for much of the year.
Saturday’s race is also a part of 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 in 2014 to enhance the rivalry between the two schools that share proximity to Lake Erie. In cross country, the team that finishes higher at the SUNYAC Championship meet in each gender 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).
