XC Club Team Makes UM-D Proud At Nationals
Katherine Travis
Issue date: 12/8/09 Section: Sports
After qualifying for the NIRCA National Championships on October 24, the men's and women's Cross Country Club teams traveled to the Eagle Crest Golf Course on Saturday, November 14 to take on the best cross country clubs in the nation. The teams competed against schools from all across the country including Texas, Oregon, Wisconsin and even the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
The women kicked things off for the University of Michigan-Dearborn.The Women looked to use their depth to continue their success this season.
With a school record nine women running in the 3.7 mile race, and the dual threat of Ana Buia (24:52) and Gabby Boyer (26:34), the women clawed their way to 25th place, edging out Miami University for the final National Rankings spot.
It was the first time in three years that the women's team finished nationally ranked, and the second time in the last three years that they finished first in the Division II standings.
In addition to their first National ranking in three years, the team celebrated a season full of school records.
This year's team consisted of more runners, nine, than any other team in the past, Ana Buia became the first female from UM-D to win a cross country invitational, and the women's team became the first squad in school history to win an invitational by placing first at the Eastern Michigan Invite.
With their top seven runners returning next fall, the women's team will be prepped for another exciting season and look to top their highlights from this year.
Like the women, the University of Michigan-Dearborn men's cross country team earned an invite to the National Championship race. After three weeks of illness, the men's squad was finally healthy and featured their top nine runners in a race for the first time this season. Shocking the country, UM-D's top runner, graduate student Andrew Coates (24:55) pulled away from the field with a quarter mile to go in the five mile race, and edged out Clemson's Wallace Campbell by four seconds becoming UM-D's first national champion and the first runner from a Division II school to win the national championship race.
The women kicked things off for the University of Michigan-Dearborn.The Women looked to use their depth to continue their success this season.
With a school record nine women running in the 3.7 mile race, and the dual threat of Ana Buia (24:52) and Gabby Boyer (26:34), the women clawed their way to 25th place, edging out Miami University for the final National Rankings spot.
It was the first time in three years that the women's team finished nationally ranked, and the second time in the last three years that they finished first in the Division II standings.
In addition to their first National ranking in three years, the team celebrated a season full of school records.
This year's team consisted of more runners, nine, than any other team in the past, Ana Buia became the first female from UM-D to win a cross country invitational, and the women's team became the first squad in school history to win an invitational by placing first at the Eastern Michigan Invite.
With their top seven runners returning next fall, the women's team will be prepped for another exciting season and look to top their highlights from this year.
Like the women, the University of Michigan-Dearborn men's cross country team earned an invite to the National Championship race. After three weeks of illness, the men's squad was finally healthy and featured their top nine runners in a race for the first time this season. Shocking the country, UM-D's top runner, graduate student Andrew Coates (24:55) pulled away from the field with a quarter mile to go in the five mile race, and edged out Clemson's Wallace Campbell by four seconds becoming UM-D's first national champion and the first runner from a Division II school to win the national championship race.
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