Tickets// THE STARTING LINE
The University of Cincinnati cross country team will compete in its final tune-up before championship season gets underway as the Bearcats will travel south to Louisville, Ky., for the 2017 NCAA Division I Pre-National Invitational on Saturday, October 14. The meet, which will be run at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park, the site of the 2017 NCAA Championships in November, will feature four races, including a pair of men's 8,000m and women's 6,000m runs. The Bearcats will race in the unseeded races with the men taking the course at 11:30 a.m. and the women at 12:15 p.m.
// FOLLOW US
For up to the minute updates, follow UC Track & Field/Cross Country (@GoBearcatsTFXC) on Twitter, Facebook (GoBearcatsTFXC) and Instagram (GoBearcatsTFXC).
// GETTING CLOSER
The meet this weekend is the final event for the Bearcats before the championship season gets underway. On October 28, the Bearcats will travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to compete in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships hosted by Temple. From there, the teams will have 13 days off from competition before heading to Terre Haute, Ind., on November 10, for the 2017 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships. That meet is used as one of the nine qualifying events for teams and individuals to reach the NCAA Championships in Louisville on November 18.
// MEET SCHEDULE
There will be four races on the day in Louisville, including two each for the men and women with one being a seeded event and the other unseeded. The men's red (seeded) 8,000m run opens the day at 10 a.m. with the women's red (seeded) 6,000m run following at 10:45 a.m. Then, the black (unseeded) races will be held with the men's 8,000m run starting at 11:30 a.m. and the women's 6,000m run at 12:15 p.m. The Bearcats are in the black races.
// SCORING/RESULTS
Each race will be its own competition with the Top 5 finishers on each team scoring. FloTrack and GoCards.com will have results following the conclusion of the meet.
// IN THE MEET: MEN
The UC men will be one of 59 teams represented in the black race with some of those schools not fielding full squads as they also will have racers in the red race. Entries in the race come from all over the nation with the Bearcats set to run against western schools like Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon, along with conference foes Houston and Tulane.
// IN THE MEET: WOMEN
Similar to the men, the UC women will one of 67 schools represented on the starting line in the black race and will see three conference foes toe the line as well with Houston, Tulane and SMU each represented. Several Ohio schools will be in the race as well, including Dayton, Miami, Ohio, Wright State, Ohio State and Toledo.
// RECAP: 2016 NCAA PRE-NATIONAL - MEN
The men entered the white (unseeded) race at the 2016 event in Terre Haute, Ind., and placed third in what turned out to be an all-Ohio showdown. The Bearcats scored 178 points with Ohio taking the win with 132 points and Miami second with 159. Four runners finished in the Top 50 for UC and were led by Toby Loveridge, who was 17th overall. The Top 5 scorers for the team were comprised by Loveridge, Dan Huben (22), Anthony Car (39), Nick Grismer (45) and Seamus Collins (60), with Michael Vitucci (64) and Spencer Clark (79) rounding out the Top 7.
// RECAP: 2016 NCAA PRE-NATIONAL - WOMEN
The women also ran in the white race (6,000m) and placed 21st overall with 419 points with Oregon State (114), Wake Forest (131) and Nevada (166) taking the Top 3 places. Juliana Madzia led the charge as she was 32nd overall in the race, running under 22 minutes (21:58.1). Of the Top 6 runners, only three return this year, including Emma Hensley (97), Grace O'Donnell (102) and Meg Westerheide (112).
// LET'S REVIEW: ALL-OHIO - WOMEN
The women placed 7th out of 40 teams at the All-Ohio Championships last time out with Madison Dunlap leading the way with her 17th place finish in 22:06.1, a PR of over two minutes. Tessa Ward (32) and Sam Mikula (36) both placed in the Top 40 to help UC. In the open race, Sammy Hentz was the top UC finisher, placing 20th overall.
// LET'S REVIEW: ALL-OHIO - MEN
Nick Grismer placed 23rd overall to help the men to a 12th-place showing (38 teams) at the All-Ohio Championships. Jake Barnes, running in the open race, also earned a Top 30 finish as he was 28th overall for the Bearcats.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// MADZIA TOP 30
On Wednesday (September 6), the NCAA released the names on its Woman of the Year Top 30 list and former Bearcats standout Juliana Madzia was listed. Madzia was one of 543 women across all three NCAA divisions that was nominated this year (229 from Division I) for the prestigious award that has been given annually since 1991. The award is built upon recognizing female student-athletes that demonstrate its four core tenants: athletics, academics, service and leadership. Madzia, one of two from the American Athletic Conference that has advanced this far, was not selected as one of the three finalist from each of the three divisions. The 2017 recipient will be announced at a dinner October 22 in Indianapolis.
// RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE
Looking back at last year's American Athletic Conference Championships, three Bearcats placed in the Top 15 of their respective races and were named to the all-conference team. Of those three individuals, only senior Dan Huben returns in 2017 after placing 13th last year.
// MOVED ON
The Bearcats also have lost two of their all-conference honorees from last year as both Juliana Madzia and Toby Loveridge earned their degrees during the 2016-17 academic year.
// REVIEW: 2016 MEN
The men finished just outside of the trophy places at the conference meeting, finishing third overall at the meet held in Cincinnati. Both Toby Loveridge (7th) and Dan Huben (13th) earned all-conference honors with their finishes. The men also improved in the regional standings as they placed 17th overall with Huben leading the way in 58th, a huge improvement from the 2015 meet.
// REVIEW: 2016 WOMEN
The women had a great year as they placed sixth at the American Athletic Conference Championships, the best finish for the UC women since a sixth-place showing at the 2006 Conference USA event. Juliana Madzia was the top finisher for the women in five races and earned all-conference by finishing 13th at the AAC meet.
// HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The Bearcats will have seven new runners on the roster this year, including four men and three women. For the ladies, the newcomers include Sydney Hess (Curtice, Ohio), Sam Mikula (Columbus) and Katrina Patterson (Clarence, N.Y.). On the men's side, the newcomers include true freshmen Ryan Guenthner (Louisville) and Matt Stump (Medina, Ohio), junior Steven Zombory (Chardon) and senior Branden Nosker (Troy, Ohio). Zombory was a member of the UC Running Club the past two years while Nosker raced for Mississippi State.
// UP NEXT
The championship season gets underway the next time out as the Bearcats will compete in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia, Pa., Saturday, October 28. The meet will be hosted by Temple and will feature a men's 8,000m race at 10 a.m. and a women's 6,000m race at 10:50 a.m.
The University of Cincinnati cross country team will compete in its final tune-up before championship season gets underway as the Bearcats will travel south to Louisville, Ky., for the 2017 NCAA Division I Pre-National Invitational on Saturday, October 14. The meet, which will be run at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park, the site of the 2017 NCAA Championships in November, will feature four races, including a pair of men's 8,000m and women's 6,000m runs. The Bearcats will race in the unseeded races with the men taking the course at 11:30 a.m. and the women at 12:15 p.m.
// FOLLOW US
For up to the minute updates, follow UC Track & Field/Cross Country (@GoBearcatsTFXC) on Twitter, Facebook (GoBearcatsTFXC) and Instagram (GoBearcatsTFXC).
// GETTING CLOSER
The meet this weekend is the final event for the Bearcats before the championship season gets underway. On October 28, the Bearcats will travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to compete in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships hosted by Temple. From there, the teams will have 13 days off from competition before heading to Terre Haute, Ind., on November 10, for the 2017 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships. That meet is used as one of the nine qualifying events for teams and individuals to reach the NCAA Championships in Louisville on November 18.
// MEET SCHEDULE
There will be four races on the day in Louisville, including two each for the men and women with one being a seeded event and the other unseeded. The men's red (seeded) 8,000m run opens the day at 10 a.m. with the women's red (seeded) 6,000m run following at 10:45 a.m. Then, the black (unseeded) races will be held with the men's 8,000m run starting at 11:30 a.m. and the women's 6,000m run at 12:15 p.m. The Bearcats are in the black races.
// SCORING/RESULTS
Each race will be its own competition with the Top 5 finishers on each team scoring. FloTrack and GoCards.com will have results following the conclusion of the meet.
// IN THE MEET: MEN
The UC men will be one of 59 teams represented in the black race with some of those schools not fielding full squads as they also will have racers in the red race. Entries in the race come from all over the nation with the Bearcats set to run against western schools like Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon, along with conference foes Houston and Tulane.
// IN THE MEET: WOMEN
Similar to the men, the UC women will one of 67 schools represented on the starting line in the black race and will see three conference foes toe the line as well with Houston, Tulane and SMU each represented. Several Ohio schools will be in the race as well, including Dayton, Miami, Ohio, Wright State, Ohio State and Toledo.
// RECAP: 2016 NCAA PRE-NATIONAL - MEN
The men entered the white (unseeded) race at the 2016 event in Terre Haute, Ind., and placed third in what turned out to be an all-Ohio showdown. The Bearcats scored 178 points with Ohio taking the win with 132 points and Miami second with 159. Four runners finished in the Top 50 for UC and were led by Toby Loveridge, who was 17th overall. The Top 5 scorers for the team were comprised by Loveridge, Dan Huben (22), Anthony Car (39), Nick Grismer (45) and Seamus Collins (60), with Michael Vitucci (64) and Spencer Clark (79) rounding out the Top 7.
// RECAP: 2016 NCAA PRE-NATIONAL - WOMEN
The women also ran in the white race (6,000m) and placed 21st overall with 419 points with Oregon State (114), Wake Forest (131) and Nevada (166) taking the Top 3 places. Juliana Madzia led the charge as she was 32nd overall in the race, running under 22 minutes (21:58.1). Of the Top 6 runners, only three return this year, including Emma Hensley (97), Grace O'Donnell (102) and Meg Westerheide (112).
// LET'S REVIEW: ALL-OHIO - WOMEN
The women placed 7th out of 40 teams at the All-Ohio Championships last time out with Madison Dunlap leading the way with her 17th place finish in 22:06.1, a PR of over two minutes. Tessa Ward (32) and Sam Mikula (36) both placed in the Top 40 to help UC. In the open race, Sammy Hentz was the top UC finisher, placing 20th overall.
// LET'S REVIEW: ALL-OHIO - MEN
Nick Grismer placed 23rd overall to help the men to a 12th-place showing (38 teams) at the All-Ohio Championships. Jake Barnes, running in the open race, also earned a Top 30 finish as he was 28th overall for the Bearcats.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// MADZIA TOP 30
On Wednesday (September 6), the NCAA released the names on its Woman of the Year Top 30 list and former Bearcats standout Juliana Madzia was listed. Madzia was one of 543 women across all three NCAA divisions that was nominated this year (229 from Division I) for the prestigious award that has been given annually since 1991. The award is built upon recognizing female student-athletes that demonstrate its four core tenants: athletics, academics, service and leadership. Madzia, one of two from the American Athletic Conference that has advanced this far, was not selected as one of the three finalist from each of the three divisions. The 2017 recipient will be announced at a dinner October 22 in Indianapolis.
// RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE
Looking back at last year's American Athletic Conference Championships, three Bearcats placed in the Top 15 of their respective races and were named to the all-conference team. Of those three individuals, only senior Dan Huben returns in 2017 after placing 13th last year.
// MOVED ON
The Bearcats also have lost two of their all-conference honorees from last year as both Juliana Madzia and Toby Loveridge earned their degrees during the 2016-17 academic year.
// REVIEW: 2016 MEN
The men finished just outside of the trophy places at the conference meeting, finishing third overall at the meet held in Cincinnati. Both Toby Loveridge (7th) and Dan Huben (13th) earned all-conference honors with their finishes. The men also improved in the regional standings as they placed 17th overall with Huben leading the way in 58th, a huge improvement from the 2015 meet.
// REVIEW: 2016 WOMEN
The women had a great year as they placed sixth at the American Athletic Conference Championships, the best finish for the UC women since a sixth-place showing at the 2006 Conference USA event. Juliana Madzia was the top finisher for the women in five races and earned all-conference by finishing 13th at the AAC meet.
// HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The Bearcats will have seven new runners on the roster this year, including four men and three women. For the ladies, the newcomers include Sydney Hess (Curtice, Ohio), Sam Mikula (Columbus) and Katrina Patterson (Clarence, N.Y.). On the men's side, the newcomers include true freshmen Ryan Guenthner (Louisville) and Matt Stump (Medina, Ohio), junior Steven Zombory (Chardon) and senior Branden Nosker (Troy, Ohio). Zombory was a member of the UC Running Club the past two years while Nosker raced for Mississippi State.
// UP NEXT
The championship season gets underway the next time out as the Bearcats will compete in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia, Pa., Saturday, October 28. The meet will be hosted by Temple and will feature a men's 8,000m race at 10 a.m. and a women's 6,000m race at 10:50 a.m.