BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Niagara University men's and women's cross country teams completed their final meet of the regular season on Saturday afternoon at the Canisius Invitational. The men's team placed sixth out of nine at the event, while the women's team finished seventh in the 10-team field.

"We came away with some impressive races, plus a slew of folks are just hovering around their personal bests in spite of the conditions, so we know that as a whole they're all super fit," head coach Christine Kloiber said. "We've laid a lot of groundwork and our upperclassmen (for both the men and women) have really developed in terms of their individual athletic ability and to lead their packs. We're at a very good place prior to MAACs and the teams are feeling confident."  
 
After setting the program record in the 8K run of 25:56 at the Paul Short Invitational, Nick Orlowski finished in 26:05.9 on Saturday, placing 20th in the field of 116 runners. Freddie Liederbach was close behind, finishing 22nd out of 116 in the race in downtown Buffalo with a personal best time of 26:11.4.

"The seniors are leading the team just like we would expect," Kloiber said. "Nick's fitness has shown all season and he's just been in a great zone; as for Freddie and Matt, they've just gotten better with each meet. Fred's 26.11 is a great performance on a slow course and his workouts shows there's still more in there; where as Matt really carried his pack of guys today and in doing that he posted a new personal record."
 
In the women's 5K race, Kayla Murphy and Caroline Hampton finished as the Purple Eagles' top runners with respective times of 19:33.6 and 19:33.9, placing 43rd and 44th out of 129 competitors. Sam Sauer finished third on the team in 20:13.6, while Tyler Levengood followed with a time of 20:51.1.

"On the women's side it was all about the teamwork," Kloiber added. "Kayla and Caroline worked so well together and you can't ask for better synergy than crossing the finish at the same time.  The trio of Tyler, Aly, and Sarah are getting more and more in sync, and we'll be looking for them to help score those extra crucial points at MAACS. Sam Sauer had her strongest race to date for cross country while at NU, and posting a new best since she's been at the school is a great way to enter into the postseason." 

The Purple Eagles will turn their attention to the MAAC Championships hosted by Rider on Oct. 31. 

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