Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Toledo Friday
September 04, 2003 | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 4, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Coming off a successful start to the 2003 season, the Bowling Green State University cross country teams now begin the home portion of the schedule with a tough test. The Falcons of head coach Cami Wells will host the arch-rival University of Toledo in a dual meet Friday afternoon (Sept. 5).
The women's race is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m., with the men's race starting at 5:45 p.m. Both races will be 5,000 meters in length.
COURSE INFORMATION
As is the case with most of BGSU's home meets, the finish line will be located at the plaque dedicating the course in former coach Mel Brodt's name. The plaque is located just east of the football practice fields, west of Interstate 75 and south of the lone hill on Forrest Creason Golf Course.
However, the starting line for Friday's race is located just west of Whittaker Track (near the football scoreboard at the south end of Doyt L. Perry Stadium). The course, which has been utilized for a number of high-school races, will take the runners toward campus, along Mercer Road and on portions of the golf course.
The Falcons are coming off a successful showing at the Eastern Michigan Open Saturday (Aug. 30). No team scores were kept at the meet, but senior Amber Culp was the individual winner in the women's race, and three of her Falcon teammates joined her in the top seven. Freshmen Andrea Pollack and Bridget Dalic were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the first race of their collegiate careers, while junior Melissa Krueger was seventh.
In the men's race, BGSU's five runners included four student-athletes running in their initial BGSU race. Freshman Edgar Ramirez led the Brown and Orange, placing fourth overall, while juniors Steve Vairetta and Patrick Maynard were 15th and 16th, respectively.
The Rockets will provide a formidable test for the Falcons. UT's women have won the MAC title in each of the last two years, and the team was picked to win the 2003 crown in the preseason coaches poll. The men were seventh in the league last year, and were tabbed to finish sixth in the '03 preseason poll.
"Both squads are looking forward to Friday," said Wells. "Practices have gone very well the past few weeks, and we are looking forward to racing at home th next two weeks. Our goal is to come away with two victories."
Wells tentatively plans to race full squads for both the men and women, including as many as 13 women and nine men. On the women's side, plans call for senior Ellen Alkire, juniors Elise Gould and Nicole Suitor, sophomores Leslie Carden, Heather Gustin, Emily Jackson, Caroline Kipchaba and Jayme Ramson and freshman Kim Settle to join Culp, Dalic, Krueger and Pollack in the lineup.
For the men, Maynard, Ramirez and Vairetta are scheduled to be joined by senior Jacob Smith, junior Kris Lachowski and freshmen Aaron Hemmelgarn and Jeff Wright. Freshmen Vivien Briard (Chichey, France) and Edwin Cheruiyot (El Doret, Kenya) will run, provided they have been cleared to compete by Friday. The status of Mario Rothmund, the team's top runner last season, is still unknown (see last week's story for more info.).
Following the UT dual, the Falcons will remain at home for the Mel Brodt Invitational, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13. The Mel Brodt meet will mark the final home action of the 2003 season for the Falcons.
