Miami Squads Place In Top 10 at Disney Cross Country Classic

Oct. 10, 2009

Men’s Results | Women’s Results

ORLANDO – The University of Miami men’s and women’s cross country teams each competed in the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. on Saturday morning.

The Hurricane men sent a season-high seven runners and saw yet another strong performance from junior Charles Michel, who placed 18th overall. For the fourth time this season Michel was the first Miami runner to cross the finish line with a time 26:58.00. Also for the fourth time, senior Julio Bonilla was the second runner to finish for the `Canes at 27:58.10.

The other scorers for Miami were freshman Greg Kaczka and sophomore Matthew Wilson, with freshmen Reginald Buford making his collegiate debut with a scoring effort as the fifth UM runner to finish.

Winston-Salem State’s Andrew Chebii-Singh won the individual championship at a time of 25:22.40. Kennesaw State took the team title, Miami finished in 10th with 275 points.

“I thought the men ran too conservative this morning, and it cost them,” said assistant cross country coach Damon Griffiths. “They didn’t put themselves in position to make moves in the early miles. But, it was good to see Reggie come back from injury and compete today.”

For the women, sophomore Anna Bona ran the top-time for Miami for the first time this season. She finished with a time of 19:57.00, in 24th place. Junior Emma Steppe finished second for the `Canes, followed by junior Katharine Woodard, sophomores Janet Price and Nehali Patel.

“The women did well through the first mile, but gave up some position into mile two,” added Griffiths. “We have to work on closing our races. However, they have showed improvement in different aspects in each race this season.”

As a team the women placed sixth out of 30 teams with a total of 193 points. Kennesaw State won the team title with its own Mackenzie Howe won the individual championship at 18:07.60.

“It will be good for us to have a week off and to focus on the conference race at the end of the month,” said Griffiths.

The `Canes will return to action in two weeks when they travel to Naples, Fla. on Saturday, Oct. 24 in the Gulf Coast Invitational.