TicketsSept. 2, 2011
Men's & Women's Combined Results
LEXINGTON, Va. - The University of Cincinnati cross country teams opened up the season in strong form winning the men's and women's two-person team relays and the men's team event at the VMI Relays, Friday at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va.
The relays are a unique format, different from a traditional cross country race. All runners competed in teams of two apiece, and completed a varying series of lengths around the course. The men ran a pair of two-mile circuits, while the women ran two 1.5-mile circuits apiece, for a total of eight miles for each men's duo and six for each women's pairing.
In the team scoring, consisting of each school's Top-3 relay teams, the men's squad took the top spot with six points ahead of host Keydets (21), Concord (34), Radford (47) and Longwood (72). On the women's side, James Madison (14) edged out the Bearcats (16) for the crown. VMI (19) took third, followed by Concord (38), Radford (39) and Longwood (72).
In the men's race, the Bearcats swept the Top-3 spots and placed all of their teams in the Top-20.
UC's duo of Tyler Ross (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) and Eric Finan (New Richmond, Ohio/New Richmond) was the only one to break the 40-minute mark, crossing the line in 39:49:00 to earn the overall win. Kevin Fink (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) and Oliver Book (Borden, Ind./Providence) grabbed second place with a time of 40:00:00 while Eric Hauser (Mason, Ohio/William Mason) and Chase Beckmann (Blacklick, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln) completed the sweep with a 40:53:00 effort for third place.
Ethan Bokeno (Fairfield, Ohio/LaSalle) and Jeffrey Griffiths (New Richmond, Ohio/McNicholas) took seventh place (41:25:00), Ricky Lupp (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) and Evan Baum (Shaker Heights, Ohio/St. Ignatius) placed eighth (41:27:00), Matthew Moscato (Bellaire, Ohio/St. John's Central) and Matt Collmar (North Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak) placed 11th (42:31:00), Dan Scurry (Mason, Ohio/Mason) and Greg Sanders (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) came home in 18th (44:04:00) and Rob Flannigan (Fairfield, Ohio/St. Xavier) and Nick Minich (Mars, Pa./North Allegheny) took 20th (44:18:00).
Individually, seven Bearcats placed in the Top-10, led by Finan's 18:47.00 which topped the leaderboard. Book was third in 19:50:00, Fink fourth in 20:10:00, Beckmann was fifth (20:18:00), Griffiths placed sixth (20:20:00), Baum ranked seventh (20:32:00) and Hauser was 10th (20:35:00).
On the women's side, the UC duo of Kaitlyn Meyer (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Pickerington Central) and Alison Zukowski (Mentor/St. Mark's) broke the tape in 36:40:00 for the win, leading three UC duos in the Top-10. Bridget Connolly (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) and Emily Clay (Bloomington, Ill./University) placed seventh (38:09:00) while Lauren Goodwin (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) and Cortney Staruch (Hinckley, Ohio/Medina Highland) took eighth place (38:12:00).
Sara Knollman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) and Ashley Earman (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) were the fourth UC pair in the Top-15 as they timed in at 40:41:00 to place 15th. Amber McAlpine (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and Carly Bauer (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) came home in 20th (43:57:00).
Individually Zukowski (1st/17:34:00), Clay (3rd/18:11:00) and Staruch (7th/18:26:00) all ranked among the Top-10.
UC returns to action next Friday, playing host to the Queen City Invitational in Alexandria, Ky.