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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Get 2002 Season Underway
August 31, 2002 | Men's Cross Country
Aug. 31, 2002
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Bowling Green State University cross country teams opened the 2002 season Saturday (Aug. 31), heading to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Eastern Michigan University Open. In addition to the Falcons and the host Eagles, the University of Toledo participated in the races, which were held at Buhr Park.
No team scores were kept at the meet, but several Falcons turned in solid performances for coach Cami Wells. In the men's race, newcomer Mario Rothmund placed second of 34 runners, finishing the four-mile race in a time of 20:35. Phil King was BGSU's second runner to cross the line, placing 15th. Other Falcon men's competitors included Josh Stucky (21st), Patrick Maynard (22nd) and Steve Blasko (30th).
For the BGSU women, Briana Killian was the top finisher. Killian placed sixth of 39 total runners in the 5K race, with a time of 19:12. First-year Falcon Nicola Viljoen was 11th, finishing in 19:39, while Amber Culp was 14th and Nicole Suitor 16th.
Cyndi Bostdorff (17th), Christy Paine (20th), Leighann Kramer (22nd), Kristin Spicer (23rd), Melissa Krueger (25th), Elise Gould (27th) and Sarah Lohrbach (29th) also represented BGSU in Saturday's race.
"I was pleased with the women's team overall," said Wells. "It was a hilly, tough course.
"Toledo looked very strong and is definitely the top team in the MAC right now. We stacked up well against EMU. Our top five runners -- Briana Killian, Nicola Viljoen, Amber Culp, Niki Suitor and Cyndi Bostdorff -- all ran quite well. They have had a tough couple of weeks of practice and came into the meet a little tired, but stepped up and raced competitively today.
"Now that we have the first race jitters out of the way we can start working on bringing the times down and working on weak spots. We also have quite a few runners we held out today who can help us as the season progresses.
"We only ran half the men today but they had a good start. Mario Rothmund ran a very nice race. He has put in a tremendous summer of training and looks ready to do some great things this season.
"I am eager to get the rest of the men out there racing next week at Purdue and really see where we are at as a team."
The Falcons will head to West Lafayette, Ind., to compete in the Purdue Invitational next Saturday (Sept. 7).
