As Flyer basketball begins and fall sports come to a close, both the men's and women's cross country teams had their last races before the Atlantic-10 Championships over the weekend, and the Flyers put out some hot performances despite the cooler temperatures.

On Saturday, the men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Bowling Green State University (BGSU) to compete in the Falcon Invite. The women started the day with an 11th place finish out of 19 teams as the men grabbed seventh place in the 13 team field.

Freshman Kristin Terry led the female Flyers for the second race this season. The Tyler, TX native completed the 5K course in a season-best time of 19:17, enough for 39th place out of the 195 competitors. Sophomore Ellen Nienhaus followed up Terry with another season best as she completed the race in 46th place with a time of 19:31.

Coming in third for the women's team was sophomore Sydney Hubbard, who ran 19:45 to finish 60th in the race. Sophomore Jacqueline Jaworek finished with a time of 19:49 and last week's Atlantic-10 Conference Rookie of the Week, Alex Miles, completed the course in a time of 19:57 to round out the scorers for the Flyers.

Freshman Bridget Conlon and sophomore Amy Kempf finished in 74th and 77th place, respectively, closing out the team placing as UD tallied 273 points for the day.

The women were pleased with how the meet went and used the BGSU race as a sort of precursor for the last few races of the season.

'As a whole, I was very proud of how the team ran,' Hubbard said. 'We have a few girls out with injuries and everyone came together and ran their best.'

'I think BG helped prepare the team for A-10s because it was a quick and easy course where some girls ran their fastest times this season,' Nienhaus said. 'This helps boosts the team's confidence going into such an important meet like A-10s.'

The women's race was won by Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) senior Ashley Ritchie with a time 17:56. Behind the second place finish of freshman Sediah Erskine, the Zips from the University of Akron claimed the team title, amassing 67 points.

The UD men's cross country team also competed well on the BGSU course, totaling 170 points in the 158 competitor field.

Sophomore Mike Andersen continued to impress on his already outstanding season. The two-time A-10 performer of the week claimed the runner-up title after a tough battle with BGSU freshman Eddie Kipchoge. Andersen finished with a time of 25:07 for the 8K course.

The next finisher for the Flyers was senior Eric Contreras. Contreras finished in 11th place for team scoring, 12th overall, in a time of 26:12.

Junior Dan Sammons followed Contreras with a 36th place finish as freshman Derek Henderson made his first time into the UD scoring five with a 27:17 time, good enough for 55th place in team scoring.

Rounding out the scoring for the Flyers was sophomore Tommy Middleton, who finished the course in a time of 27:27 in 66th place.

Junior Mike Connolly and freshman Robby Strock completed the team placing for UD as the pair finished with times of 27:40 and 27:45 respectively.

Akron had its top five men finish among the top 25 in the race to also claim the men's team title. Kipchoge continued his string of race wins earning the individual title on his home course in a time of 24:40. Kipchoge also claimed the All-Ohio title last week at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Both teams will have two weeks before their next race, the A-10 Conference Championships, hosted by Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. The men and women will look to improve on their eighth place finishes from 2005. The men's race starts at 10 a.m. with the women's gun going off at 10:45 a.m. on Oct. 28.

After the A-10 Championships, the Flyers will come back to Bowling Green for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Nov. 11. The top finishers in that race qualify for the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 20.