Falcons Soar At 2017 Spartan Invite

Friday, September 15

East Lansing, Mich.

11:40 AM

Bowling Green State University

Spartan Invitational

September 15, 2017 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: By Katherine Harvath, BGSU Athletic Communications

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Falcons showed up strong at the 2017 Spartan Invite, with runners placing in the top 10 in both the men's and women's races. Redshirt junior Rachel Walny headlined the day, finishing first for the women in the 6K event, out running a sea of 290 competitors to finish the race. She finished with a time of 21:19.0, less than a minute away from her personal best. For the men, junior Noah Schaub set a career best time of 25:21.6 in the 8K, good for ninth overall. No team scores were recorded for the two races.

The Field
There were 33 teams competing in both events. On the women's side, 290 runners finished compared to the 282 finishers on the men's. The Falcons placed seven men and six women in the top 100 of both events.

Conference Competition
With the ninth place finish, Schaub was the top Mid-American Conference male runner at the Spartan Invite. Four MAC schools competed at the meet including Bowling Green, Central Michigan, the men of Eastern Michigan and the women from Western Michigan. On the women's side, BGSU held five of the top 10 MAC finishers.

Women's 6K Event

In her first race of the season, Walny finished first overall. She last competed at the Spartan Invite in 2015, finishing third with a time of 21:26.
Elena Lancioni was the second Falcon to cross the finish, placing 37th overall with a time of 22:55.4.
Just 1.5 seconds separated freshman Jessi Lindstrom from Lancioni, placing 39th in the competition.
Claire Reynolds finished in 23:28.4, placing 53rd overall.
Michigan native Rachel Durbin placed 65th overall with a time of 24:00.2.
Kelsie Mothersead finished 76th in the field, crossing the line at 24:09.5.
Allison Holahan also competed for the Falcons.

Click here for women's full results

Men's 8K Event

The Falcons had four place in the top 50, in a field of 282 finishers.
Schaub finished ninth overall after finishing 48th overall with a time of 27:06 at the meet two years ago.
Tyler Phillips finished 37th overall with a time of 26:18.6, less than 30 seconds shy of his personal best.
Jonathan Wenning finished shortly behind Phillips, crossing the finish at 26:23.4 for 39th.
Jacob Schenten rounded out the Falcons in the top 50, finishing in 26:34.1 for 46th.
Kohl Taberner and Paul Garbarino finished just five seconds apart, placing 70th and 73rd respectively.
Raymond Berling competed in the first 8K of his career, finishing 80th overall with a time of 27:26.1.
Nick Voth, Gabe Garbarino and Jonathan Voth also competed at the meet.

Click here for men's full results

Quoting The Coach
"I like where we are at, up front, on both sides," head coach Lou Snelling said. "I think we see the building blocks now of where we are at, and where we would like to go in the next few weeks before we get to MACs. We have some work to do for sure but we now understand what we need to do to get there."

"Noah had a really nice day against some great competition," he said. "For him to go out and drop 25:20 on September 15, that's very positive."

"[Walny's performance] was very positive, against good competition," Snelling said. "What you see from her is what you will see from everyone else in terms of growth every time we step out, continuing to get better. It's exciting to start the season in such a good place."

Up Next
The Falcons are back in action in two weeks as they travel to Notre Dame, Ind. for the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, September 29, 2017 at Burke Golf Course.

Follow The Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons cross country teams throughout the season on social media.
Twitter – @BGAthletics and @BG_XCTrack
Instagram – 'bgfalcons' and 'bg_xctrack'
Facebook – 'BGSU Athletics'
YouTube – 'Falcon Athletics'