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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Cross Country Heads To Great Lakes Regional Championships
November 07, 2007 | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 7, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Though the results may not have been there for them at the Mid-American Conference Championships two weeks ago, the Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country squads will have one final opportunity to show what they're capable of accomplishing as they get ready for the 2007 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships. The Saturday event that will feature the best of the Great Lakes Region, hosted by Indiana University, will be held at the IU Cross Country Course in Bloomington, Ind. and will kick-off at 11 a.m.
The two races will be the longest races of the season for both squads, as the women will be running a 6K course, while the men will be challenged by a 10K course. The top teams and individuals in the races will qualify for the NCAA Champinioships held Nov. 19th in Terra Haute, Ind.
The two Falcon squads are coming off the MAC Championship meet that saw the Falcon women finish seventh and the Falcon men finish eighth, as freshman Barbara Powers (Bowling Green, Ohio) and sophomore Eddie Kipchoge (Eldoret, Kenya) led the way. Powers, competing in her first MAC meet for the Falcons, would finish as the Falcons No. 1 runner for the first time in her collegiate career as she came across the finish line in the 28th-position. Kipchoge, who finished 14th in the men's race, became the only Falcon to earn All-MAC honors this season, earning a spot on the Second-Team squad for his efforts.
Injury and illness were a problem for the two squads leading up to the title meet and may have aided in some of the disappointing results, but coach Cami Wells and her teams aren't going to let that deter them from having a great Regional meet.
"We really want to finish the season with an effort that truly shows the ability and competitiveness of our team," said BG coach Cami Wells. "For the women we are looking to have a strong team race and beat some of the teams that beat us at the MAC meet, but we know we've got a challenge ahead us. This will be the first 6K race for four out of the seven women racing, so it will be a chance for them to gain some valuable experience for the future, while it'll also represent a new challenge for them at the same time."
"On the men's end, Eddie [Kipchoge] will be the only man running for us this Saturday and he has his sights set on getting to the national meet. He was one spot short of making it to nationals last season and that has been a big part of his motivation this year. At the MAC meet, he was fighting an illness so he wasn't as ready for the meet as he'd been in the past, but we're expecting good things from him this weekend."
Last season Kipchoge finished the Regional meet in the 14th-spot, as he became the highest finisher in the Regional race since Tim Arndt finished 18th in the 1995 meet and had the best finish since Dave Mora finished third in 1986. His big effort led the Falcon men to an overall 23rd-place finish.
This season however, Kipchoge will be a one-man team, as the Falcon men continued to fall victim to health issues in the MAC meet.
"The men's team was hit pretty hard this season with injury and illness," said Wells. " We lost Max Group early in the year and Brad [Wells] was hampered by illness most of the season and was eventually held out of the MAC race for medical reasons. Eddie, Chris, and Kevin were fighting through an illness the week of the MAC meet then, so we were far from were we wanted to be at the end of the season."
On the women's side, BG will take seven runners with four (Heather Conger, Ashley Fishcer, Powers and Lyndi Woods) seeing their first Regional action, while Carly Bates (Palatine, Ill.), Kara Butler (Okemos, Mich.) and Kylie Korsnack (Bowling Green, Ohio) return from a team that finished 10th last season. Bates led all Falcon women, running a time of 22:56.53 to finish 72nd last season, while Butler finished in the 88th spot, running a time of 23:10.18.
On the season, the Falcon women competed hard as they were ranked for a majority of the season in the Great Lakes Regional poll, despite running without senior Jamie Roflow.
"I felt that the women had a good season and have accomplished a lot of positive things this fall," said Wells. "We have a talented hard working group who stepped up and gave their best effort despite racing without their leader Jamie Roflow. We were hampered somewhat at the MAC meet with Kara Butler getting sick and Ashley [Fischer] having a difficult day, but they fought through and finished a respectable seventh in a strong field. Seventh certainly isn't where we had our sights set to finish at the MAC meet so there is a lot of disappointment, but they have not let if keep them down. They've been out practicing hard and have set their sights on having a regional race they can be proud of to finish the season."
Toledo Dual - W:1 / M: 2; Top Finishers: W: Ashley Fischer, 1st - 18:22 M: Eddie Kipchoge, 1st - 15:23
Mel Brodt Invitational - W:4 / M:11; Top Finishers: W: Ashley Fischer, 9th - 18:14 M: Chris Moody, 68th - 27:06.63
Greater Louisville Classic - W:7 / M:28; Top Finishers: W: Ashley Fischer, 24th - 18:03.93 M: Eddie Kipchoge, 11th - 24:16.37
All-Ohio Championships - W:8 / M:24; Top Finishers: W: Ashley Fischer, 28th -19:36.5 M: Eddie Kipchoge, 5th - 26:02.9
Falcon Invitational - W:3 / M:9; Top Finishers: W: Ashley Fischer, 14th - 18:25.62 M: Eddie Kipchoge, 1st - 24.41.64
Tiffin Open - Top Finishers: W: Courtney Krummert, 6th - 11:41 M: Michael Flores - 20th - 16:44
MAC Championships - Top Finishers: W: Barbara Powers, 28th - 18:36.7 M: Eddie Kipchoge - 14th - 25:26.3
