Bowling Green State University Athletics
Roflow Places Fourth at All-Ohio Championships
October 07, 2005 | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 7, 2005
DELAWARE, Ohio -
The Falcons, on a cold and rainy afternoon, competed at the 51stAnnual All-Ohio Cross Country Championships, held at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio and junior Rogers Kipchumba in the 8,000m race and sophomore Jamie Roflow in the 5,000m race led them.
Kipchumba has been the first Falcon to cross the finish line in each of the previous three meets this season and today was no exception. Kipchumba, who was nagged by a stiff back, still was able to run a good race. He ran to a 20th place finish out of 286 runners. His time of 26:46 was the only BG time that broke the 28:00 mark.
"I was pleased with Kip," said head coach Cami Wells. "This course is very difficult, especially when we're so used to running on much flatter terrain. He ran a good race especially since his back was tightening up."
As for the rest of the Falcon men, Brett Finnan, a freshman from Lockport, New York, was the next across the line with a time of 28:07, finishing 91st.
"Bret ran a fantastic race, " said Wells. "I was really pleased with his performance and his aggressiveness in stepping up for the team as a freshman. I look forward to seeing him continue to race with this aggressiveness. "
Edgar Ramirez was the next Falcons to cross the finish line with a time of 28:21, finishing 105th.
"It was nice to see Edgar back in racing form," said Wells. "He had been recovering from an illness that prevented him from excelling at Stanford."
Bryan Jackson (144th, 28:48), slipped to the number four spot behind Ramirez. Rounding out the top-seven squad were Kevin Kaighin (159th, 29:01), Aaron Smuda (186th, 29:32) and Jeremy Hartley (191, 29:41).
"The key for the men will be to close the gap between second through fifth runners," said Wells. "We really need to work on that if we look to competing well in future meets. They need to stay focused and run with more confidence and they should do well, and I look forward to seeing them succeed."
For the women, it was all about closing the gaps between the first through fifth runner. With Roflow's fourth place finish (18:25), the Falcons were then led by fellow sophomore Stephanie Hillman, (19th, 19:10) and junior Andrea Pollack (27th, 19:20).
"Jamie ran a great race for such a difficult course and I was extremely proud of her," said Wells. "She ran a very strong race against some of the top runners in the conference and she now knows where she stands and to set her goal for the conference meet."
Finishing behind Pollack were Kim Settle (43rd, 19:34), Kara Butler (56th, 19:47), Bridget Dalic (78th, 20:05) and Caroline Hillman (172nd, 21:46).
This was Caroline Hillman's first race since coming back from an injury. She has not run a race since September 2004.
"The girls ran well," said Coach Wells. "I think we were more positive about our finish than satisfied. We would have certainly like to have been in the top three at this meet. That was our goal coming into this. Although we finished one spot out of our goal, I was pleased to have improved on last years fifth place finish. I was also happy that we were able to beat all the other Ohio MAC conference schools besides Akron. It gives us a sense of where we stand in the conference. "
The key for the women will be to close up the gaps between Roflow and S. Hillman. If the team can get the women all within a certain time of each other, they look to a bright finish coming down the homestretch.
Other Falcons competing in the open race were Colleen Moran (20:13), Caroline Kipchaba (20:29), Katy Senn (21:38), Kylie Korsnack (22:03), Leslie Carden (22:06) and Emily Jackson (22:25).
On the men's open race, competing for Bowling Green were Curtis Farnsel (29:25), Steve Vairetta (29:27), Kris Lachowski (29:57), Will Elmore (30:22), and Jeff Wright (31:38).
This was the first time since the fall of 2003 that Lachowski and Wright ran for the Falcons. They each sat out the 2004 season and part of this fall due to ongoing injuries.
The Falcons return to competition on Saturday, October 15th, as they play host to the 2nd Annual Falcon Invitational. The meet is slated to begin at 10:45 a.m. on the Forrest Creason Golf Course.
