The UB Royals cross country team earned their second straight Mid-Continent Conference title Saturday, winning the league meet in Howland, Ohio. UB's Bulls finished second behind host Youngstown State in the men's competition. The Royals finished with a record 24 points to outdistance Youngstown State's 69. Senior Judith Novak earned the league's Runner of the Year award by winning the women's 5K race in 17:53. The Royals placed five runners in the top nine spots. Julie Phelps was third in 18:53; Gretchen Welch, fifth in 19:03; Tara Reimer, sixth in 19:04 and Kerri Shpur ninth in 19:15. Novak, Phelps and Welch earned First-Team All-Conference recognition; Reimer and Shpur made the Second Team.

In the men's 8K race, the Bulls scored 56 points to Youngstown State's 51 to finish second. Troy State's John Stanley was first in 25:18 to earn Runner of the Year honors. Charlie Moynihan was third in 25:25 with Chris Keenan sixth in 25:56. Dan McSherry was 10th in 26:04. Moynihan earned First-Team All-Conference honors with Keenan and McSherry following on the Second Team. UB women's coach Dick Barry received the league's Coach of the Year nod for the second consecutive year.

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SOCCER

The Bulls qualified for the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament Sunday with a 1-1 tie at first place Central Connecticut State. UB is now 8-7-2 overall and finished 3-2-1 in the conference. UB picked up their only goal from Antony Wright, first goal given up all season by Central Connecticut at home and only the second this season against a Mid-Con opponent. Jay Palmer and Chris Barletta combined in goal for the Bulls, stopping seven CCSU shots. UB travels to Macomb, Ill. for this weekend's tournament. The Bulls, second in the Eastern Division, meet Western Illinois, Western Division champs, in the first round.

In women's soccer, Coach Jean-A. Tassy's first season with the Royals ended on a sour note Sunday as UB fell to Colgate 5-0 in Hamilton. The Royals, 9-3-3 overall got 12 saves from goalkeeper Nicole Pittaro, who finished the season with 150 saves and a 1.75 goals against average.

VOLLEYBALL

The Royals earned their 20th win of the season Saturday with a 15-11, 15-7, 15-7 win over Robert Morris in women's volleyball action at Alumni Arena. UB (20-11) was led by Candie Hirst's seven kills. Hirst finished the match with a .545 hitting percentage. Laurie Santelli added six kills and eight digs. Candi Sims led the Royals with 24 assists and 11 digs. Kathy Brinkworth and Amy Burda led UB with four blocks each. The Royals host this weekend's Mid-Continent Eastern Division Cluster matches at Alumni Arena. UB is tied for first in the division at 2-1 with Youngstown State and Troy State.

FOOTBALL

The Bulls put together a gritty second half effort but fell short to Hofstra 17-14 in Long Island Friday night. All the Bulls did against the undefeated Flying Dutchmen was outscore them 14-0 in the second half and outgain them 196-116 yards to nearly pull off one of the biggest upsets in Div. I football this season. The Bulls (2-6) did not fold the tents at halftime despite trailing 17-0. Instead, they got tremendous second-half performances from their defense, offensive line, quarterback Mark Taylor and halfback Anthony Swan. The defense, led by Craig Guest (13 tackles), Pete Conley (12 tackles) and Terrence Fisher (seven tackles, three pass breakups) shut down the No. 2 ranked offense in Division I-AA the entire second half.

Taylor completed a career-high 20-of-37 passes for 198 yards. His favorite target was junior Keith Warren who pulled in a career-high six tosses for 83 yards. Swan finished the game with 139 yards on 26 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 17 and 1 yard. The Bulls meet Central State, top ranked in the NAIA, Saturday at UB Stadium.

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TENNIS

Coach Russ Crispell's Bulls finished their fall dual season with a 10-2 record following their 5-2 loss vs. St. Bonaventure. Wadie Kawar and Mike Proulx were victorious in their singles matches; Andrew Garber and Pradeep Rebala combined to win the number three doubles contest.

The Royals improved to 12-0 in the fall season with their 7-2 win over St. Bonaventure. Three sophomores, Amy Borden, Stacey Gargan and Annulett Dillon, helped the Royals down the Bonnies by winning their singles matches.

-Ted Wasko, Sports Information Office

THIS WEEK'S HOME ATHLETIC EVENTS

Saturday, Nov. 4

Football vs. Central State 1:30 p.m. UB Stadium

Volleyball Mid-Continent Cluster matches 11 a.m. Alumni Arena

Men's & Women's Swimming vs. Edinboro 2 p.m. Alumni Arena Natatorium

Sunday, Nov. 5

Volleyball Mid-Continent Cluster matches 1 p.m. Alumni Arena

Wednesday, Nov. 8

Volleyball vs. Canisius 7 p.m. Alumni Arena