WXC Hopes To Build Upon Recent Success In 2015

Bowling Green, Ohio -- Head Coach Lou Snelling has improved the women's cross country teams finishing place at the conference meet each season since arriving at Bowling Green. At this year's MAC Championship meet, the Falcons finished fourth overall, which was two spots higher than last season. Prior to 2014, the team finished 12th in 2011, 8th in 2012 and 6th in 2013.

This was the team's best conference finish and point total (127) since the 2006 season. This was also BG's first back-to-back top half performance at MACs since 1997-98. Junior Becca Rae, who put together a Second Team All-MAC performance, led the Falcons this season.

BGSU opened its season at the Toledo Invitational Aug. 29 against Toledo and Eastern Michigan. Rae led the team with a personal best time of 17:56 in the 5,000-meter distance, placing fourth overall. Redshirt sophomore Mackenzie McMillin and sophomore Brent Darah both recorded personal best times in the race. The Falcons finished four runners under 18:26.

The Orange and Brown then hosted the annual Mel Brodt Collegiate Invitational where Rae placed as the team's top finisher (eighth overall) for the second meet in a row. McMillin was right behind Rae, finishing in ninth with a time of 18:04.42. Junior Amanda Garlak and redshirt junior Andrea Alt were in uniform for the Falcons for the first time this season and placed 13th and 14th, respectively.

The team traveled out of state for the first time in 2014 to compete at the Louisville Cross Country Classic. There were three nationally ranked teams in the field on the women's side, as well as last years top finisher. For the third consecutive meet this season, Rae placed first on the team (68/300 overall) with a time of 18:09.29. The Falcons were the highest placing Mid-American Conference team in the 5,000-meter race. BGSU had three runners in the top 80 finishers. McMillin and Alt came in just one and three seconds, respectively, behind Rae. In her first race in two cross country seasons, Jasmine Redman finished fourth on the team with a time of 18:27:80. Francis, who ran a personal best 18:28.86, crossed the finish line after Redman. Rounding out the top seven for the Falcons were Garlak and freshman Elena Lancioni, who ran in uniform for the first time. The spread between the team's first and seventh runners was just under 30 seconds.

BG placed seventh overall out of 33 teams, and first out of five MAC schools at the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational. Despite wet and muddy race conditions, the Falcons finished in front of Central Michigan, Kent State, Ohio and Akron. Rae finished 24th out of 214 runners with a 6,000-meter time of 22:15.8. She improved 73 places from last year where she finished 97th overall at the 2013 Pre-Nationals meet. McMillin followed in 44th place with a new personal best time of 22:43.8. Darah (65th), Garlak (66th) and Francis (70th) all finished within four seconds of each other. In her first 6K with the Falcons, Lancioni ran a time of 23:18.8. Following the race, Bowling Green was ranked 13th in the Greak Lakes Region, according to the USTFCCCA's Regional Team Rankings. This is the program's highest regional ranking in its current format.

At the conference meet Nov. 1, the women placed fourth overall and scored 127 points. Rae, who finished second team All-MAC, set a personal best time of 21:13, breaking her previous personal best time of 22:01, which she set at last season's MAC Championship meet. The Falcons' second through sixth runners were separated by just a five second spread. Every member of BG's top seven set new personal records. Francis saw the biggest improvement, crushing her previous personal best by 1:20. Lancioni shattered her old time by 1:13 and McMillin beat hers by just under one minute. Darah set a new personal record of 21:43, which is a 40 second improvement for him. In 2013, he was the third best freshman at MACs.

Coming off a second-team all-MAC performance, Rae was the team's top finisher yet again at the Regional meet in Wisconsin, placing 64th out of 219 runners. Her place was the best individual finish since 2007 and she was just one second off the fastest time ever recorded by a BGSU athlete at a regional championship. There were a number of nationally ranked teams in the field, including No. 1 Michigan State, who scored just 28 team points. Also a part of the top 20 in the country, Wisconsin (6), Michigan (8) and Ohio State (19) were contenders at the race Nov. 14. BGSU's 2-6 runners were separated by a spread of just 12 seconds. Darah finished behind Rae, tying his season PR of 21:43. Redman placed third on the team and Lancioni followed in fourth with a 13 second personal best time of 21:52. Alt and McMillin finished within one second of each other, placing 89 and 91 overall. Francis was 35 seconds behind McMillin.

Fifty percent of the teams who finished in front of the Falcons qualified for the NCAA National meet and finished top 30 in the country. This season's regional and national champion Michigan State was a member of the field. BGSU's 13th-place finish at the 2014 Great Lakes Regional meet was the highest team performance since 2006 and was four spots higher than in the previous two years. In 2011, the women placed 32nd overall.

Looking to 2015, the women do not graduate a single runner from this year's squad and hope to build off of the recent successes the program has seen.

"The team is excited about their opportunities in 2015 and they understand what we will have to do on a daily basis to make them a reality," Snelling said. "We are in this position because they have bought into the importance of the process and what our values as a program are. It's a great opportunity for the upperclassmen to leave our program in a much better place and cement their legacy at Bowling Green."

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Andrea Alt

Brent Darah

Amanda Garlak

Elena Lancioni

Mackenzie McMillin

Becca Rae

Jasmine Redman

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