GREENWICH, NY - The Utica College Cross Country teams competed at the Empire 8 Championships on Saturday, October 30th. The UC women were fifth with 156 points, while the UC men were sixth with 158 points at the meet hosted by Sage, and run at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Greenwich. 

The St. John Fisher women and Nazareth men won the team titles, with Fisher's Riley Corey and Grant Stokoe sweeping the individual titles. 

The shining star of the day for UC was freshman Jade Dening (Remsen, NY/Remsen). The local product continued her stellar rookie season by setting herself up for First Team All-Conference honors in a strong performance. She placed fourth in a 73 finisher field with a six kilometer time of 23:08. On a fast championship course, that is a convincing personal best for a college 6k race for Dening.

Following Dening to the line in the women's competition for UC was Laura Levi (Inlet, NY/Town of Webb), who placed 36th in a time of 25:56. Kristin Daino (Johnson City, NY/Maine-Endwell) was 37th in 26:04, Brieann Lohmann (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) placed 58th with a time of 28:57, and freshman Emma Zacharewicz (Round Lake, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) finished in 31 minutes even to round out Utica's scoring five. 

The UC men were led by Michael Roberts and Hayden Lohmann. Roberts was 24th on the eight kilometer course with a time of 27:42, and Lohmann was close behind in 25th in 27:45. Andrew Wieder placed 61st in 32:08, Tristan Vargo produced a time of 32:33 to land in 62nd, and the UC scoring was polished off by Kyler Ford's 71st place finish in 35:53.

Utica now turns its attention to the NCAA Division III Niagara Regional Championships.