Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Cross Country Team Looks to Prevail at Home
October 17, 2008 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Oct. 17, 2008
BOWLING GREEM, Ohio - The Falcon men's and women's cross country teams will be defending their home turf, Saturday Oct. 18, at the Falcon Invite. Due to the Falcons' home football game, the races will take place on the Forrest Creason Golf Course, located north of Doyt Perry Stadium. The women will compete at 10:45 a.m. and the men at 11:30 a.m.
"I am always excited to host a race," said head coach Cami Wells. "Having cold weather and a flat course will allow athletes to run some pretty fast times."
This will be the fifth outing for the two teams this season. The women are coming off a third place finish at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championships meet and moving in ranking from 13 to 10 in regional rankings by the Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The men finished 27the at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championships.
Individually, senior Kara Butler (Okemos, Mich.) took home another top-10 finish placing fifth of 288 total runners with a time of 18:11. Butler, for the second consecutive time this season, set a new personal record. The men were once again led by sophomore Christopher Moody (Davidsonville, Md.), who placed 66th overall with a time of 27:06.
Senior Jamie Roflow (Cincinnati, Ohio) also had a top-20 finish placing 12th with a time of 18:36 for the women's squad. Butler and Roflow pacing were also complimented by the junior Carly Wells (Palatine, Ill.), senior Kylie Korsnack (Bowling Green, Ohio) and Barbara Powers (Bowling Green, Ohio) who finished 36th through 38th.
"This was the highest finish at the All-Ohio since I have been coaching here," said Wells. "We did well stepping up on a very difficult course and the teams preparation paid off."
On the men's side two sophomores rounded out the top-three finishers for the Brown and Orange, as sophomore Jesse Smuda (Deshler, Ohio) placed 129th with a time of 28:10 and sophomore Abraham Busienei (Eldoret, Kenya) running seven seconds behind Smuda placing 138th.The final finishers for the Falcons included senior Aaron Smuda, 149th (Rogers City, Mich.), sophomore Jeff Ehler, 208th (Cincinnati, Ohio), freshman Ben Leininger, 216th (Beavercreek, Ohio) and sophomore John Bernard, 223rd (Worthington, Ohio) also competed in the 280-man race for the Falcons.
"They raced better as a team," said Wells. "We still have a ways to go to be the best that we can be."
Sophomore Johnstone Kiruri was the big surprise for the team. In the opening race Kiruri proved himself to be a competitor for the top five spots on the men. Wells is looking forward to his performance at the Falcon Invite to see if he will take one of the top five spots for the Mid American Conference Championships.
"The main focus is on the conference championships," said Wells. "I will be using this meet to make final adjustments."
The Falcon Invite will be the last regular season event for the Falcons before the MAC Championships. The MAC Championships will be held at Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, Mich.) on Nov. 1 at 11:00 a.m.
