Bowling Green State University Athletics
Viljoen Finishes 11th At Legends Race
September 07, 2002 | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 7, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the inaugural Great American Legends meet Saturday (Sept. 7). The races, hosted by Purdue University, were held at PU's Varsity Cross Country Course.
Men's Race Results in PDF Format
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Women's Race Results in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
No team scores were kept in the races, which featured the men's teams from BGSU, Purdue, Butler, Illinois, Illinois at Chicago, IUPUI, Marquette, St. Joseph's College and Wright State and the women's squads from each of the nine aforementioned schools as well as Cleveland State and Louisville.
For the Falcon women, freshman Nicola Viljoen was the first runner to cross the finish line. Viljoen was 11th of 109 total finishers in the 6K race, with a time of 23:44.
Junior Amber Culp finished 17th in the race (23:58), while senior Briana Killian placed 21st (24:09). Other finishers for the BGSU women included Christy Paine (37th, 25:00), Cyndi Bostdorff (39th, 25:08), Sarah Lohrbach (42nd, 25:11), Leighann Kramer (43rd, 25:12), Elise Gould (50th, 25:29), Kristin Spicer (57th, 25:46), Emily Jackson (66th, 26:03), Melissa Krueger (73rd, 26:25) and Leslie Carden (76th, 26:46).
"I was pleased with the way the women's team ran today," said BGSU head coach Cami Wells. "We held a few runners out today, but they will be back next week for the Mel Brodt.
"The team competed well against a tough field. Marquette is the number-one ranked team in our region, and Illinois and Purdue also have strong squads. We would have finished fourth out of 11 teams, behind only those three, had the meet been scored. This was also the only 6K race the women will run until November when we go back to Purdue for the regional meet.
"Nicola Viljoen ran a very strong race again this week, competing in her first 6K race as a collegiate runner. Amber Culp also had a strong showing and has really been racing well. Briana Killian ran another good race after a very tough week of practice. Christy Paine stepped up and ran better this afternoon to move up to fourth on the team, and Cyndi Bostdorff had another solid effort as our number-five runner. We are looking forward to racing at home next Saturday at the Mel Brodt."
For the BGSU men, junior Phil King was the first runner to cross the finish line, placing 37th in a time of 27:41. The 8K race had a total of 74 finishers.
Senior Troy Stiles finished just behind King, placing 38th in a time of 27:42. Also representing the Falcon men were Patrick Maynard (54th, 28:46), Kris Lachowski (58th, 29:01), Ed Stonestreet (62nd, 29:29) and Josh Stucky (67th, 29:42).
"On the men's side the team had a decent start," said Wells. "Mario Rothmund had some trouble out on the course today, but he'll be back at full strength next week for the Mel Brodt. Phil King and Troy Stiles both had nice finishes.
"Now, we just need to work on being more competitive and having a tighter pack with our top five. Next week will be a good test for the men's team as we compete against some other MAC teams -- Toledo, Ohio and Eastern Michigan."
Marquette had the top three finishers in the women's race, while host Purdue had five of the top-10 finishers in the men's meet. Illinois had four of the first 10 men to cross the finish line.
As mentioned, no team scores were kept at the meet. But, BGSU's women's team would have finished fourth had the meet been scored, while the Falcon men would have placed seventh.
The Falcons now prepare for the lone home meet of the 2002 season, Saturday's (Sept. 14) Mel Brodt Invitational. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., with the women's race set for 10:30 a.m.
UNOFFICIAL TEAM SCORING
WOMEN 1. Marquette 46 2. Illinois 87 3. Purdue 93 4. Bowling Green 177 5. Wright State 228 6. Ill. at Chicago 246 7. Louisville 283 8. Butler 297 9. IUPUI 341 10. St. Joseph's 494 11. Cleveland State 543MEN 1. Purdue 44 2. Illinois 69 3. Marquette 97 4. Butler 178 5. Wright State 239 6. Ill. at Chicago 241 7. Bowling Green 316 8. St. Joseph's 374 9. IUPUI 387
