UTICA, NY- The Utica University men's and women's cross-country teams compete in the NCAA Division III Niagara Regional in Fredonia, NY at 11 a.m. The men will be running an 8k and the women will run a 6k. 
 
Follow Along: Live video will be available, courtesy of Fredonia, here and live results can be found here.
 
Last Time Out: Both teams finished 3rd and 5th out of 10 teams in the Empire 8 Championships. The women's team was led by the freshman Catherine Manna (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro). She placed 17th overall out of the 100 runners in the championships. Manna ran a 23:09, which is her fastest time this season. Marlo Townsend (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) was right behind Manna, taking 18th overall. She stamped a 23:10.3 followed by Jade Dening's (Remsen, NY/Remsen) 23:22.5 who placed 22nd overall. Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) picked up 24th place, running a 23:25.9. Alexis Heath (Inlet, NY/Town of Webb UFSD), Meghan Sonnacchio (Liverpool, NY/Central Square) and Priya Katwala (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) rounded out the scorecard for the Pioneers en route to a fantastic third-place finish. Along with Manna, Bennett Melita completed the race fifth overall with a time of 24:28 in a very competitive field. Joseph Santiago, Timothy Jeralds, Eddy Corporan, and Connor Pirkl would round out the rest of the Pioneers to cross the finish line as Utica would take fifth place in the field of 10 teams.
 
The Course: A course map can be found here 
 
Looking Back:  Last year at the NCAA Regionals, the men's team finished 13th out of 25 teams and the women's team finished 16th out of 20 teams. Bennett Melita last year, led the men's team, placing 55th out of 170 runners in a time of 26:01. Not too far behind him were Anthony Leotta and Zach Brown, staying within 26 minutes. For the women's team, Jade Dening (Remsen, NY/Remsen) led the team, placing 52nd out of 140 runners in a time of 23:06, which was the top time for the Pioneers women's team last year. SUNY Geneseo has won the men's and women's regional championships in the past three seasons, looking to make it four consecutive years. 

Moving On: A total of 10 teams (one per regional) will automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18. There will be 22 at-large teams selected by a committee that will be announced on Nov. 17. SUNY Geneseo is looking to win its ninth straight Niagara Region men's championship and eighth consecutive women's title.

Teams Attending: Alfred, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, Keuka, Hartwick, Houghton, Nazareth, SUNY Poly, St. John Fisher, Russelll Sage and Utica. 
 
Up Next: For those selected, Utica will travel to Terre Haute, IN to compete in the NCAA Division III championships starting at 11 a.m.