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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Preparing For 2002 Season
August 20, 2002 | Men's Cross Country
Aug. 20, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - With nearly the entire group of 2001 letterwinners returning, optimism is high in the Bowling Green State University women's cross country camp. Fourth-year head coach Cami Wells welcomed her team back to campus Monday (Aug. 19), along with the men's squad, in preparation for the August 31 season opener.
Wells enters her first year as head coach of the men's team in 2002.
The Falcon women have a total of seven returning runners who have lettered in the past. BGSU posted a disappointing 12th-place finish at last year's MAC Championships, but bounced back for an encouraging finish to the season in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship. Joy Echler is gone from that squad, but Wells has the rest of the team at her disposal, plus a number of runners that have been hampered by injuries in the past.
"We have 11 new team members joining us this season," said Wells. "And, we have almost all of our top runners back, including Melissa Krueger, Sarah Lohrbach, Elise Gould and Christy Paine.
"We also have the services of Amber Culp and Briana Killian, both of whom had great track seasons and return to us healthy this fall. And, I feel that, with the addition of Nicola Viljoen, Caroline Kipchaba and Leslie Carden, we will have some help up front where we need it most."
Krueger, the BGSU freshman of the year last fall, competed in all seven races in 2001 and had a personal-best time of 19:15 at the Mel Brodt Invitational. Seniors Lohrbach and Paine, the 2002 team captains, each ran in every race last fall as well. Lohrbach holds a personal-best time of 18:05, while Paine's best time of 19:18 came in last year's Mel Brodt race.
Gould, a sophomore, also earned a letter last year, joined the aforementioned four returnees in competing in every 2001 race. Her personal-best time in the 5K is 18:55.
Other returnees include Culp and Killian, both of whom lettered prior to 2001. Culp was the Falcons' freshman of the year in 2000, but was hampered by anemia last fall. She ran in six races at less than 100%, but had a solid track campaign highlighted by an eighth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the MAC Championships. Culp's personal-best time in the 5K is 18:24.
Killian, BGSU's frosh of the year in 1999, lettered both that year and in 2000, but was redshirted last fall due to injury. Like Culp, she had a solid track campaign, and placed seventh in the MAC in the 800 meters at the league's indoor championships. Killian lowered her personal best in that event to 2:14.77 in the outdoor campaign, and holds a personal standard of 18:41 for the 5K.
Cyndi Bostdorff, who ran in six of last year's seven races, rounds out the returning letterwinners.
Other returnees for Wells' squad include seniors Katrina Kerns, Beth Scheall and Kristin Spicer, junior Leighann Kramer and sophomores Kim Klipan and Nicole Suitor. Spicer, who has a personal best of 19:06, ran in six races last year, while Suitor competed in five and Klipan one. Suitor was injured for much of last season, while both Kerns and Kramer have been hurt for the bulk of the last two campaigns.
Freshmen signees include Carden, Kipchaba and Viljoen. Carden, a native of Galveston, Ind., has personal-best times of 5:14 in the 1,600 meters, 11:12 in the 3,200 meters and 17:56 in the 5K. Kipchaba, from Kabsabet, Kenya, has best times of 4:32 in the 1,500 meters and 17:30 in the 5K. Viljoen, from Pretoria, South Africa, was the Under-23 South African Aquathlon National Champion, and was a member of her country's national triathlon team. She has a personal best of 10:08 in the 3,000 meters.
Rounding out the squad are eight walk-on members, including senior Amy Bork (personal best of 18:30 in the 5K). Wells feels that Bork has put in a great summer of training and can step in and contribute to the 2002 squad.
Other walk-on team members include sophomore Noelle Visintainer and freshmen Emily Jackson, Falon Jaeger, Melissa McManus, Angela Raizes, Maria Scaperato and Jodi Wehrman. Wehrman, a native of Minster, Ohio, was a member of the 2001 cross country and 2002 track and field squads that won state championships, and was part of a state champion 4 x 800 meter team.
"We are looking forward to starting the season and improving after a disappointing 2001 season where many of our athletes were hampered by injuries and illness," said Wells.
On the men's side, the situation is a little different, to say the least. The Falcons have just one letterwinner returning, and that runner -- Steve Blasko -- lettered in 2000. Tom Kutter, an All-MAC Second-Team selection who led the Falcons in four of last season's six races, has completed his eligibility, as have Chad Kunkle, Rob Glatz, Dave Larsen and Andy Artiaga.
"We were hit hard by graduation and other losses last year," said Wells. "We lost quite a few top athletes to graduation, and we also lost Grant Shadden and Justin Perez, who decided to transfer after men's track was dropped. Paul Niedzwiecki, another top athlete, decided not to return to BG after the fall of 2001.
"We do, however, have some new additions to the team, Mario Rothmund and Patrick Maynard, who I believe will help us a great deal."
Steve Blasko, as mentioned, is the lone returning letterwinner. The junior has competed in four races in each of the lsat two years. Other returnees to the squad include senior Troy Stiles, juniors Phil King and Ed Stonestreet and sophomores Kris Lachowski and Jon Wagner. Stiles, the lone returning senior, will captain the 2002 squad.
Of the newcomers, Maynard, a sophomore, has a personal best of 4:18 in the 1,600 meters and 9:25 in the 3,200 meters. Rothmund, a graduate student at BGSU, is a native of Germany. He has personal-best times of 3:57 in the 1,500, 8:22 in the 3,000 and 14:08 in the 5K.
Rounding out the new squad members are freshmen Tyler Ostuni, Josh Stucky and Dale Blanchard, Jr.
"I am really looking forward to working with the men's team," said Wells. "The young men we have returning are all extremely hard-working athletes as well as excellent students.
"I have the utmost of respect for all of the great BGSU men's cross country coaches that have come before me -- Coach Brodt, Coach Sink and Coach Martin -- and I consider it an honor to take over the program. It is my goal to build a team that will carry on the proud tradition of Bowling Green men's cross country."
The Falcon teams open the 2002 campaign with an Aug. 31 trip to Ypsilanti, Mich., for the EMU Open. BGSU's lone home meet, the Mel Brodt Invitational, is set for Saturday, Sept. 14. The Brown and Orange will compete in seven races prior to the MAC Championships on Nov. 2. The Great Lakes Regional meet is scheduled for Nov. 16 at West Lafayette, Ind.
