Falcons Compete At NCAA Regional Meet Friday

Friday, November 14

Madison, Wisc. (Zimmer Cross Country Course)

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

NCAA Great Lakes Regional

November 11, 2014 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: by Alexx Klein, BGSU Athletic Communications

Men's and Women's Course Maps
Meet Page

Bowling Green, Ohio. – The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams compete in the NCAA Division I Great Lakes Regional Meet Nov. 14 in Madison, Wisconsin. There will be a total of nine MAC teams in the women's race and seven in the men's field.

WHAT THE COACHES ARE SAYING
Head Coach Lou Snelling: "We expect to build on our success at the MAC championship with our highest team and individual placing in a number of years at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. There will be an awesome amount of competition at the meet with six teams ranked top 30 in the nation and others receiving national votes. But, this is the most experienced and fit team Bowling Green has brought to the meet in some time. They are more than ready to take advantage of the opportunity."
Assistant Coach Eric Thatcher: "I expect the men to have their best meet of the season at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. The seven guys who earned the right to toe the line this Friday are excited for the opportunity to use the fitness they have gained during a long 26 week training cycle. Coming off personal best individual performances at the MAC Championships gives us the confidence that we are peaking at the right time."

RACE DETAILS
The University of Wisconsin hosts the 2014 NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet Nov. 14 at the Thomas Zimmer championship course. The women's 6k championship race will start at 12 p.m. (CT), followed by the men's 10k championship race at 1 p.m. (CT). Fans can follow along on Twitter via the official site of BGSU Athletics @BGAthletics or through the home of BGSU Cross Country @BGXCTrack. Live race results can be found here.

LAST TIME OUT
The women placed fourth overall and scored 127 points at MAC Championships Nov. 1, which is the team's best finish and point total since the 2006 season. This is also BG's first back-to-back top half performance at MACs since 1997-98. On the men's side, six Falcons set PRs in the race. The team finished 9th in the MAC.

RAE-CING TO THE FRONT
Rae set a personal record in the 5k (17:56) at the Toledo Invite where she placed fourth overall and first on the team. The junior has been the team's top finisher in all five meets this season. Most recently, she put together a 13th place, Second Team All-Conference performance at the MAC Championship meet, setting a personal best time of 21:13.

YOUTHFUL
Only two out of eight runners return this season from the men's team (Black and Jeremy Richard). On the women's side, six of the 16 runners are freshmen or redshirt freshmen, and another five are sophomores of redshirt sophomores. The women are without any seniors this season.

FRESHMAN POTENTIAL
Freshman Kohl Taberner has placed first on the team in the last three meets, including a top 100 finish at the All-Ohio Championships and a personal best time (25:53) at MACs Nov. 1. Freshman Travis Jex has been one of the most consistent runners on the team, finishing second on the team in the last three meets. For the women, freshmen Elena Lancioni and redshirt freshman Allison Francis have made an immediate impact on the program, as they consistently place among the top seven for the Falcons.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS/REGIONALLY RANKED
In the USTFCCCA preseason poll, the BGSU women were ranked No. 15 in the Great Lakes Region. This is the team's first regional ranking of the four-year Lou Snelling era. Following a 7th place finish at Pre-Nationals, the women were ranked 13th in the region, according to the USTFCCCA. This is the program's highest regional ranking in its current format.

STRONG ACADEMICALLY
The women's team tied a program record with three Academic All-MAC members in 2013 and the men's cross country team added two more as announced by the MAC last season. Three more women and three more men earned honorable mention status on the teams.