TicketsThe University of Cincinnati men's and women's cross country teams will take their turn at hosting the Queen City Invitational on Friday. The event will mark the season opener for the men's team and will be the second meet of the season for the women's.
The Queen City Invitational will take place at Mount Airy Forest, located on Cincinnati's west side just five miles from UC's campus. The men's race begins at 5 p.m. and the women's will follow at 5:45 p.m. Both races will be 5,000 meters. The course is mostly flat with rolling hills in the first part of the race.
This will be the 31st edition of the annual Queen City Invitational, a cross country race that UC, Northern Kentucky University and Xavier University take turns hosting. UC has won the men's race 17 times and the women's race nine times. Along with the tri-hosts, other participating schools are Wright State University, University of Indianapolis, Thomas More College, Cincinnati Christian University, Asbury University, Bellarmine University, Campbellsville University, Cumberland University, Georgetown University and Lindsey Wilson College.
The UC women's team was fourth in the University of Dayton's Flyer 5k Challenge this past Saturday. But that result didn't include three returnees from last year's team, including top runner and the team's only senior, Alison Zukowski. The three missed the race with a variety of afflictions. In their place, sophomore Emily Clay was the Bearcats' top finisher, covering the course in 19:07.0 and finishing 14th overall. The remaining six scoring positions were four freshmen (Anne Pace, Alex Mahle, Stephanie Rosso and Stephanie Mee) and two sophomores (Ashley Earman and Carly Bauer).
"Overall, the team looked much improved over last year," said head coach Susan Seaton. "The newcomers racing so well really added a competitive aspect to our team order and they also provide depth to our team. It will be interesting to see who our top five will be at the Queen City on Friday."
Sophomore Kaitlyn Meyer, who missed the Flyer 5k Challenge because of an illness, is set to return for the Queen City Invitational. But Zukowski likely won't be returning anytime soon. Seaton said the hope is for Zukowski to still run at some point this season, but it will likely be in the latter part of the year.
The UC men's team will open its season with almost a completely new look. All-American Eric Finan, who was the men's individual winner of the last three Queen City Invitational, completed his cross country career last fall. Oliver Book, who was the Bearcats' No. 2 runner in every meet last season, and Kevin Fink, who was No. 3 in every meet but one, will both sit out 2012 with injuries. That leaves senior Chase Beckmann, juniors Tyler Ross, Eric Hauser and Evan Baum, and sophomore Jeffrey Griffiths as the top returners. The five were typically the runners finishing in the remaining scoring positions for the Bearcats last season. Baum did have a season-best performance as the team's No. 3 runner at the BIG EAST championship meet. According to head coach Bill Schnier, sophomore Colin Cotton, a transfer from Williams College (Mass.), has been the most impressive newcomer and is expected to contribute right away for the Bearcats.