Buffalo State’s men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble this past Saturday in rainy conditions in their last meet before the SUNYAC Championships.

The men’s team ran an 8k race and placed 21st out of 34 teams. Senior Kyle Foster led the way for the Bengals, finishing 98th out of 291 runners with a time of 27:08.6. Seven seconds behind him was junior Austin Becker with his best run of the season.

“Individually, I feel I am getting more consistent times,” Becker said. “My last time was 27:15 and I improved to 27:10.”

“I could have done better if I felt fully conditioned. Oberlin was a good meet for us, except for the last two years. [After the race,] I felt mentally drained due to the weather and conditions at Oberlin.”

The women’s team had mixed feelings about Oberlin.

“I didn’t like it at all,” Sabrina Brooks said about her run this past weekend. “I felt very tired and it wasn’t a good race at all [for me].”

Brooks placed 145 out of the 341 racers and posted a time of 25:06.3.

“It was a really nice course, but it was very rainy and that affected the whole run,” Brooks said. “Overall, I think as a team we did very well, but the conditions of the course were very muddy; it wasn’t an optimal time to do it.”

Junior Kat McNamara finished 101st and posted a time of 24:24.9, which led the Bengals and helped them finish 28th out of 40 teams.

“I was really excited with my finish,” McNamara said. “I did the run ten seconds faster than my last three. I loved the Oberlin course and every time we go there it is kind of rainy and I love running through the rain. As a team, we were a little slow. As a pack we did better to stay together this time. After this race, I’m feeling more confident in doing better in the SUNYAC Championship race and get closer and back up to where I was before I was injured.”

Last year during one of McNamara’s classes, “[I] pulled a couple of tendons down by my ankle,” McNamara said. “It felt like a little bit of discomfort at first, until I knew it was an injury.”

Buffalo State’s travels to the SUNYAC Championships at Brockport on Nov. 1.

“If we get mentally prepared, I feel that we will finish as a top three or four team,” Brooks said. “I feel we are going to do well. I’m really excited and the team is too.”