Xavier University Athletics
Men?s Cross Country Shocks the Atlantic 10
10.30.04 | Cross Country
PITTSBURGH, Pa. ? The Xavier men?s cross country team catapulted itself into the upper echelon of the Atlantic 10 Conference on Saturday afternoon at the 2004 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships. XU?s men turned in the best performance in school history as the Musketeers finished third topping the previous best finish of seventh in 2002. The women finished seventh in the eleven team event tying the program?s best finish set in 2000 and 2001. La Salle University claimed the team honors in both the men?s and women?s event.
The men?s team which finished third with 106 points was led by Paul Staudigel (Cincinnati/Elder) as the junior finished 12th overall with a time of 26:21. XU?s No. 2 finisher was freshman Ben Milroy (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North), who finished in 26:47 for 17th overall. Milroy was followed up by fellow freshman Tony Matheus (Cincinnati/Kings) in 19th place with a time of 26:51.
Senior Chris Tieke (Batavia, Ohio/Glen Este) was the fourth finisher for XU at 26:58 for 23rd overall. Dan Cihal (Omaha, Neb./Mt. Michael Benedictine) sealed the third place team finish for XU as the senior stepped up and finished in a time of 27:32, which was good enough for 35th overall.
Milroy and Matheus finished in the top three among freshmen competing in today?s event. Additionally, the men demonstrated a marked improvement in from last year as the Musketeers were able to move from eighth in 2003 to third overall in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
?Both of our programs really overachieved today. On the women?s side we were extremely banged up and to come through like they did by tying their best-ever finish was very gratifying,? said Head Coach Steve Nester. ?We had a lot of runners step up today most notably Dan Cihal who came through when we lost a runner 4.5 miles into the race. I thought maybe if we ran a phenomenal race then we would finish fourth and to get third is an amazing transformation of the program in just one year.?
On the women?s side, the Musketeers battled through the 11-team field for a seventh place finish with a total of 172 points. Kristin Hoff (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) turned in the top individual finish for Xavier as the senior finished 24th with a time of 19:06. Sophomore Kelly Sraj (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) followed up Hoff in at 19:08 for 25th overall.
The third finisher for XU was freshman Amanda Brown (Omaha, Neb./Millard North), who finished in 34th with a time of 19:26. Brown was followed in by fellow freshman Joanna Gruber (Minister, Ohio/Minister) in 38th place at 19:29. Sophomore Megan Uhl (Floyds Knobs, Ind./Floyd Central) was the No. 5 runner for XU with a 51st place finish at 19:54. Heather Fry (Avon, Ind./Avon) finished 58th at 20:05 followed by Emily Mertz (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) in 62nd at 20:15. The seventh place finish for the women was tied for the biggest improvement in the Atlantic 10 Conference as XU moved up three spaces in the team standings from 10th in 2003.
The Musketeers will attempt to continue the momentum built at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships into the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on November 13 in Ypsilanti, Mich.
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