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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Women Finish Fifth At Illinois
October 18, 2003 | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 18, 2003
URBANA, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University women's cross country team recorded a fifth-place finish at the 10-team Pack-It-Up Illini Challenge Saturday morning (Oct. 18). The race, hosted by the University of Illinois, was held at the UI Arboretum in Urbana.
The host Illini scored 43 points to place first. The Falcons had a team total of 124 points, and were second among four Mid-American Conference teams.
Individually, senior Amber Culp paced the Falcons for the 13th consecutive race. Culp was seventh in the 86-woman, 5K race, finishing in a time of 18:07.
Freshman Andrea Pollack was the second Falcon to finish, placing 21st overall in 18:51. Other BGSU competitors included Melissa Krueger (28th; 19:00), Leslie Carden (29th; 19:03), Bridget Dalic (40th; 19:14), Leighann Kramer (41st; 19:15), Caroline Kipchaba (43rd; 19:19), Kim Settle (56th; 19:46) and Emily Jackson (58th; 19:48).
Miami's Andrea Kremer won the race in a time of 17:12. The RedHawks were the lone MAC team to finish ahead of BGSU, placing second behind the Illini. Conference foes Northern Illinois (seventh) and Ohio (ninth) also competed.
The Falcon men's team also ran at Illinois, but no team scores were kept for the men's race. The Illini's Jason Bill was the individual winner of the 55-man, 8K race, in a time of 25:01.29.
BGSU was led by freshmen Edwin Cheruiyot and Edgar Ramirez, who placed 33rd and 34th, respectively. Cheruiyot crossed the finish line in 26:41.56, while Ramirez was less than two seconds behind (26:43.34).
Other Falcon runners included Kris Lachowski (43rd; 27:41.89), Vivien Briard (52nd; 28:40.34), Jeff Wright (53rd; 28:50.94), Steve Vairetta (54th; 28:56.84) and Jacob Smith (55th; 29:21.05).
Runners from Cincinnati, DePaul, Ohio and Wright State, in addition to BGSU and host UI, competed in the men's race.
"Overall, I was hoping to see better races out of both teams," said head coach Cami Wells. "The women did not run a bad race, but just not up to their capability, and that is something we have to work on for the MAC meet.
"We have to have everyone racing their best to finish where we want to in the MAC. The men had a better race than last week, but we are still having trouble getting our one through five runners to run well at the same time.
"For the women, Amber Culp did a good job of leading us once again. She had hoped to place a little higher, but ran a competitive race and is a leader I can count on every week. Leslie Carden ran her best race ever and made her first appearance in our top five, finishing in the number-four spot. I am very proud of Leslie. She has worked her way back after injury and illness. Melissa Krueger and Andrea Pollack also ran solid races.
"On the men's side, Edwin Cheruiyot and Edgar Ramirez ran well. Edgar set a personal best, as did Jake Smith, who took nearly a minute off his best time.
"As I have said all year, we need to decrease our spread between our first through fifth runners. We need to get that margin down to around 30 to 45 seconds for the women and 45 to 60 seconds for the men."
The Falcons now prepare for the MAC Championships, which will be held in Akron, Ohio, on Nov. 1.
Pack-It-Up Illini Challenge
Women's Team Scores: 1. Illinois 43 2. Miami (Ohio) 53 3. Southern Illinois 87 4. Indiana State 114 5. Bowling Green 124 6. Cincinnati 136 7. Northern Illinois 177 8. DePaul 213 9. Ohio 227 10. Wright State 280
BGSU Women's Individual Results
7. Amber Culp (18:07) 21. Andrea Pollack (18:51) 28. Melissa Krueger (19:00) 29. Leslie Carden (19:03) 40. Bridget Dalic (19:14) 41. Leighann Kramer (19:15) 43. Caroline Kipchaba (19:19) 56. Kim Settle (19:46) 58. Emily Jackson (19:48)
BGSU Men's Individual Results
33. Edwin Cheruiyot (26:41.56) 34. Edgar Ramirez (26:43.34) 43. Kris Lachowski (27:41.89) 52. Vivien Briard (28:40.34) 53. Jeff Wright (28:50.94) 54. Steve Vairetta (28:56.84) 55. Jacob Smith (29:21.05)
