Cross Country Has Record Setting Day

Saturday, September 29

Louisville, Ky.

9:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

Louisville Cross Country Classic

September 29, 2018 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. and AKRON, Ohio - It was another successful day for the Falcons cross country programs, with many athletes recording new personal bests, and in some cases breaking school records. With part of the team in Louisville, and others in Akron, there was plenty of opportunities for experience for the BGSU runners.

Women's 5k (Louisville)
Rachel Walny was the only representative in orange and brown for the Women's 5k in Louisville, and she made it count. With 226 athletes competing in the race, Walny came away with a sixth place finish, breaking her school record for the 5k in the process. Walny most recently broke the record at the Mel Brodt Collegiate Opener earlier this season with a time of 17:06.5. Once again, she shattered that time, finishing in 16:58.0 in Louisville. This is Walny's fourth time breaking the record for the Women's 5k event in three years.

FULL WOMEN'S 5K RESULTS

Women's 6k (Akron)
The women's cross country team also sent six runners to the All-Ohio Collegiate Cross Country Championships in Akron, Ohio. With 307 runners competing, all of BGSU's six runners were able to place in the top 125, including two new personal records, as well as three runners participating in their first collegiate 6k event. As a whole, the team placed 8th out of the 38 teams.

Sarah Hunsley led the way for BGSU with an 8th place finish. Her time of 21:52.1 is a new personal record, beating her previous time of 23:44.9 by nearly two minutes.
In her first collegiate 6k event, Katerina Shuble was the next Falcon to finish, as she placed in 25th with a time of 22:29.0.
Jessi Lindstrom was the third BGSU runner to place in the top, finishing in 48th with a time of 22:54.6.
Allison Holahan also recorded a new personal best. Her time of 23:30.9 was just :00.9 seconds shy of being 2 minutes better than her previous best of 25:30.0.
Allie Zofkie and Megan Aalberts also participated, competing in their first collegiate 6k events.

FULL WOMEN'S 6K RESULTS

Quotes of the Coach: Part I
Although Rachel Walny has broken the record for the 5k before, this time seemed to a little more impressive, given the level of competition she was against. "Rachel absolutely took the next step in her career against some of the best in the country," said Coach Lou Snelling. "It will be interesting to see how many of the girls that placed around her will be All-Americans in November." As for the rest of the team that traveled to Akron, they made strides that will be crucial leading into the last stretch of the season. "We took steps in the right direction, we can build to our goals from this point," said Snelling. "We have the urgency to take care of business this next 4-6 weeks."

Men's 8k (Louisville)
The men's cross country program also had a great day, both individually and as a team. In Louisville, the BGSU men's team was able to record a 7th place team finish out of the 29 participating schools. Additionally, the Falcons had 10 of the 11 participating athletes record new personal records while competing in the largest event of the year with 252 runners.

Noah Schaub was the first Falcon across the finish line, placing 13th out of 252. With a time of 24:06.4, Schaub recorded a new personal best in the 8k, beating his previous time by 11 seconds, which he recorded in Louisville last year during the Pre-Nationals event. Schaub has been the first of the team to finish in all of the Falcons' races this year. His pace has set the standard for the rest of the team.
In 34th place, Tyler Phillips was the next BGSU runner to complete the 8k event, finishing with a time of 24:39.2. Phillips nearly broke his previous personal record of 25:23.8 by a full minute, exhibiting tremendous improvement from last year's Pre-Nationals event.
Cesar Arellano and Kyle Hibinger both participated in their second career 8k races and were able to improve their times by more than a minute each from the John McNichols Invitational. Arellano finished in 55th with a time of 25:01.0 and Hibinger placed in 66th with a time of 25:12.3.
Jonathan Voth (75th, 25:18.5), Raymond Berling (90th, 25:29.1), and Paul Garbarino (96th, 25:32.9) rounded out the Falcons to finish in the top 100, with all three recording new personal records.
Abel Nijakowski and Jonathan Wenning finished close together with only :00.3 separating them. Nijakowski also recorded his new best time in the 8k with 25:44.0.
Gabe Garbarino (26:02.6) and Nathan Bostelman (26:10.2) closed out the race for the Falcons with each achieving new personal records.

FULL MEN'S 8K RESULTS

Quotes of the Coach: Part II
Assistant Coach Juan Carrillo traveled with the team to Louisville and was pleased with the results. "Today was definitely our best team performance of the season," said Carrillo. "We needed this performance heading into the MAC Championships in four weeks." The Falcons came into this race ranked 13th in the Great Lakes Region by the USTFCCCA Regional Coaches' Rankings and could see movement in the next standings. "We beat all the teams in our region," said Carrillo. "We have momentum going and we are going to take advantage of it."

Up Next
The Falcons have one more event before the MAC Champions with the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Illinois scheduled for October 12th. The men's team will be the first to participate with a scheduled start of 9am with the women set to follow at 1pm.

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'