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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Kipchoge And Powers Lead Cross Country At Great Lakes Regional
November 10, 2007 | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 10, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Sophomore Eddie Kipchoge finished 49th, while freshman Barbara Powers finished as the Falcons No. 1 runner for the second-time in her collegiate career as the Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country squads concluded their 2007 season at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet. The Saturday morning races were hosted by Indiana University at the IU Cross Country Course, with the top teams and individuals qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Kipchoge, who was the lone runner in the men's 10K race for BG, finished his fall season running a time of 32:09.22 to finish just inside the top 50. The Eldoret, Kenya native fell short of his goal of qualifying for the NCAA championship race, but ended the 2007 season with two individual titles to bring his collegiate total to six in his first two years competing for the Brown and Orange.
Notre Dame's Patrick Smyth would take the individual title on men's end, running the fourth-fastest time in course history with a time of 30:22.44. Despite his performance though, the Fighting Irish would finish third behind Michigan and Wisconsin, who tied for the men's team title with a score of 68.
In the women's 6K race, the Falcons would finish 21st with a team score of 527, as Powers led the way with a 62nd-place finish. It was the second-straight race that the Bowling Green native has led the Falcons as she ran a time of 22:41.51 in her first 6K event. The time was also the 20th-fastest time in BGSU history for a 6K race and was the second-best time run by a Falcon on the IU course as all competing runners ran personal-best 6K times.
Earning individual honors on the women's side was Michigan's Nicole Edwards. Edwards crossed the tape with a time of 20:30.76 to help the Wolverines to second-place finish, as the Michigan State Spartans earned the team title with a score of 60, placing four in the top 15 runners.
Others competing for the Falcons on Saturday were junior Kara Butler (22:45.71) who finished 69th and freshman Ashley Fischer (23:15.11) who finished 100th.
Butler's time ranked her 21st on the all-time BGSU 6K list and qualified as the third-fastest time run on the course by a Falconn, just behind Powers.
Rounding out the Falcon women would be senior Lyndi Springer (23:47.22) who finished 138th, junior Kylie Korsnack (24:05.21) who finished 154th and freshman Heather Conger (24:17.60) who finished 163rd.
Falcon sophomore Carly Bates, who was running well in the No. 4 spot for BG in the race, was forced to drop out of the race at the 4K mark after suffering complications from an illness.
"Carly [Bates] had been suffering from a cold and tried to make it through, but her condition worsened in the race and she was unable to finish," said BG coach Cami Wells. "The important thing is though that was treated after passing out and is doing fine. Our team place certainly suffered though with her misfortune and it really didn't reflect the effort all our runners showed."
