Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head to Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships
November 14, 2008 | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 14, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Falcon women's cross country team will be gearing up for the NCAA Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships, hosted by Purdue University on Saturday Nov. 15. The women, who are currently ranked 11th in the region, will be running at 11:00 a.m.
Seven runners and one alternate will be competing in Purdue. This includes the leader of the women this season, senior Kara Butler. This will not be Butler first appearance at the Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships. Last year, she finished second for the Falcons placing 69th with a time of 22:45. This season Butler has stepped it up and has not had a 6k race time longer than 22:14; this includes her new personal record of 21:41.
Butler is not the only Flacon with Regional Championship experience. These talented runners include seniors Jamie Roflow and Kylie Korsnack; junior Carly Wells and sophomore Ashley Fischer. All of these athletes have been consistently at the top of the pack for the women. BGSU will also be joined by first time competitors sophomores Lyndi Woods and alternate Autumn Dettman.
Roflow and Wells have also been consistent for the women usually finishing as the second and third runners in competitions this season. Seven of the Falcons eight have established personal best times in the 6k this season.
BGSU finish fifth at the Mid-American Conference Championships, on Nov. 1. Butler, Wells, Korsnack, Pereira de Almedia and Dettman all ran personal best times in the 5k. Butler's performance puts her in the history books as fourth on BGSU all-time women's 5k.
Complete Regional Release
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue cross country teams are set to host the 2008 NCAA Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships this Saturday at the Purdue Varsity Cross Country Course. The women's 6K race is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., with the men's 10K contest to follow at 11:45 a.m.Saturday marks the third time the Boilermakers have played host to the regional championships, as they were run here in 1995 and 2002. The top two teams finishing in each region earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, while the top four individual finishers not on a qualifying team secure a trip to nationals as well.
"We're excited to host such a high-caliber event," said Purdue head coach Jack Warner. "We have several people who put a lot of time and energy into the quality and care of our course and it's great to display it in an NCAA event."
The men's race will be highly competitive as it features four of the top 30 teams in the country, including the 2008 Big Ten Champions from the University of Wisconsin. The Badgers are ranked sixth in the country and lead the list of Big Ten Conference participants ahead of No. 9 Michigan and No. 28 Indiana. Also joining the group is 27th-ranked Notre Dame, who took home second place at the 2008 Big East Conference Championships. Rounding out the top-10 of the latest regional rankings is Michigan State, Butler, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State and Cincinnati.
The host Boilermakers enter the regional championships unranked, and have their top chances to make the national championships riding on sophomore Caden Shields and freshman Cale Allen, who have been their top two finishers all season.
"Saturday will be a great opportunity for the men's team to compete on their home turf and really get after it," said Purdue men's distance coach Conor Holt.
Wisconsin enters the weekend as the top-ranked team on the women's side as well, holding the top spot in the region and No. 8 in the national poll. Michigan State and Michigan will vie for the regional title as well, sitting second and third in the region and 10th and 17th nationally. Indiana holds the No. 6 spot in the region, while the host Boilermakers round out the list of Big Ten representatives at 12th. The top-two finishers from the 2007 regional championships return in this year's race in Michigan's Nicole Edwards and Michigan State's Nicole Bush. Bush captured the conference title in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 2, and hopes to mimic her success come Saturday.
The Mid-American Conference will be well-represented in Saturday's race, led by Miami (Ohio), the No. 4 team in the region, along with Akron, Ohio, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Dayton and Toledo.
The Purdue women will need a stellar effort to earn a team nod to nationals, led by junior standouts Kristin Phillips and Katie Morrical. The pair hopes to carry their team to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for Nov. 24 at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., and focus on top-10 individual finishes to lead the way.
"We expect Saturday's race to bring a lot of school and course records," said Purdue women's distance coach Kelly Phillips. "Our ladies will need to run a great race, but are capable of making a big run at national qualification."
Timing and results services will be provided by Delta Timing Group and will be available upon each races conclusion at www.deltatiming.com.
Women's Regional Rankings 1. Wisconsin 2. Michigan State 3. Michigan 4. Miami (OH) 5. Notre Dame 6. Indiana 7. Akron 8. Ohio 9. Marquette 10. Central Michigan 11. Bowling Green 12. PURDUE 13. IPFW 14. Dayton 15. Toledo
