Bowling Green State University Athletics
Cross Country To Do Battle Against Ohio's Best This Friday
October 07, 2008 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Oct. 7, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - One big race to the next. That is the challenge the Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams face as this Friday they will take part in the 54th annual All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships held at the Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio. There will do beattle against some of the best squads Ohio has to offer, as they continue to go through the meat of their fall schedule.
The Falcons, just a week removed from competing against some the nation's top teams at the Stanford Invitational, are nearing the middle of an eight-week span that will see them complete the brunt of their 2008 fall schedule. That eight-week time period that started on Sept. 13 with the Mel Brodt Invitational, will conclude with the Great Lakes Regional race in West Lafayette, Ind. on Nov. 15, as the All-Ohio Championships will represent the middle of the schedule.
"The state of Ohio is filled with a lot of talented teams," said coach Cami Wells. "This race will be a great opportunity for us to continue to work on our team goals and see many of the best teams in the MAC and region at the same time."
Tough competition is nothing new to Wells and the Falcons as last week both squads competed against the likes of Stanford, UCLA, California-Berkley, BYU, Arkansas and many more highly-ranked squads.
Despite the strong competition however, the BG women put together one of their better races of the season, taking home 16th. The finish put them in the top-half of the final meet results, as 33 total teams ran in the event. Senior Kara Butler (Okemos, Mich.) ran a career-best 6,000 meter time of 22:14 to lead all Falcon runners, as she placed 29th-overall of the total 278 runners. Just 12 seconds behind her in the 35th-spot was senior Jamie Roflow (Cincinnati, Ohio), who ran a time of 22:26, as the two continued to be BG's No. 1 and No. 2 runners.
"I felt that both Kara [Butler] and Jamie [Roflow] ran very well at Stanford to lead the women's team," said Wells. "You need to have strong front-runners to have a successful team and those two have been consistent for us all season."
Not too far back of the top two runners for the BG women was Bowling Green native Kylie Korsnack who was the No. 3 ruuner for BG, finishing 93rd with a new personal-best 6K time of 23:21. Other Falcons who had strong finishes were sophomore Ashley Fischer (Fremont, Ohio), who finished 98th with a time of 23:24 and Autumn Dettman (Watertown, Wis.), who finished 120th with a time of 23:46.
"The key for us continues to be our inability to close up the gaps between runners and specifically between our top two runners and the rest of the pack," said Wells. "I would like to see a 30-45 second or less spread from our 1-5th runner and to see our top seven runners within 60 seconds. Both teams have been working hard on running more as a team in practice and they all know how important it is for them to race in a strong pack."
In the men's race, the Falcons finished 25th at the Stanford Invitational, as they continue to perform well without All-Mid-American Conference runner Eddie Kipchoge. Christopher Moody (Davidsonville, Md.) would finish as BG's No. 1 runner for the third-straight event of 2008, as the sophomore came across the tape in the 90th-spot with a time of 26:39.
"Chris had a strong race at Stanford after a disappointing Mel Brodt race," said Wells. "He ran smarter. He kept a even pace race and used the strong field to boost his performance."
Overall, the Falcons had all five of their men's runners finish in the top-178. Coming across the line 59 seconds behind Moody for BG in the 142nd-spot was Jesse Smuda (Deshler, Ohio). Smuda crossed with a new personal-best 8K time of 27:38 to finish 24 seconds in front of 156th-place finisher Aaron Smuda (Rogers City, Mich.), who crossed with a time of 28:02.
Finishing out the day's results for the Falcons were newcomers Abraham Busienei (Eldoret, Kenya) and Ben Leininger (Beavercreek, Ohio) who finished 216th and 224th, respectively.
"Those two Stanford races and going against some highly ranked teams gave the athletes an opportunity to race in a large competitive field - very similar to what they will see in several of our upcoming meets," said Wells. "Each of those races allowed the teams to gauge their progress and see where we need to work both individually and as a team."
Wells hopes the progress will continue this weekend when the Falcons will battle the likes of Malone College, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Kent Stat, Ohin Northern, Caas Western, Dayton and many more of Ohio's better teams.
"The course at Delaware is one of the most challenging cross country courses I have seen," said Wells. "It is very hilly and challenging both mentally and physically. The competition is always outstanding. We will get to see almost every team in Ohio DI, DII, DII and NAIA."
Friday's events will kick-off at 2 p.m. with the women's 5K, followed by the men's 8K race at 2:45 p.m.
Women Ranked 13th In Great Lakes Region
For the second-straight week, the Falcon women find themselves ranked 13th in Division I Cross Country Great Lakes Regional rankings. Listed below is this week's complete GLR rankings.
Great Lakes Women
1. Michigan State
2. Michigan
3. Wisconsin
4. Notre Dame
5. Miami (OH)
6. Akron
7. Purdue
8. Cincinnati
9. Kent State
10. Indiana
11. Marquette
12. Ohio
13. Bowling Green
14. Central Michigan
15. Toledo
