Ten Falcons Earn New Personal Bests At 2019 Louisville Cross Country Classic

Saturday, October 5

Louisville, KY

9:30 AM

Bowling Green State University

Louisville XC Classic

Ten Falcons Earn New Personal Bests At 2019 Louisville Cross Country Classic

October 05, 2019 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: By Kellan Godfrey, BGSU Athletic Communications

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams took to the XC course at E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park for the 2019 Louisville Classic on Saturday (Oct. 5) morning. The men's team took 18th place in team scoring out of 41 teams competing. The women's team finished in the top ten with a team score of 9th out of 23 teams competing. In total, 10 Falcons ran new personal bests between both events with six in the men's race, and four in the women's race.

Men's 8k Event
The men's 8k event saw 386 participants in total. The Falcons would earn a team score of 472 earning them an 18th place finish out of 41 teams in the field finishing in team scoring. Bowling Green bested fellow Mid-American Conference school Ohio University by two places (20th).

Individual Performances

Leading the way for the Bowling Green Falcons in the men's 8k was junior Kyle Hibinger coming in 52nd overall with a time of 24:40.5. In his second race of the 2019 season, Hibinger ran a new personal best in an 8k race. His previous best time was 25:12.3, which he ran in last year's Louisville XC Classic (Sept. 29, 2018).
Not far behind Hibinger was sophomore Cesar Arellano coming in second for Bowling Green. Arellano would finish 60th overall with a time of 24:43.2 also earning a new personal best in a men's 8k race. His previous personal best was 25:01.4 also in last season's Louisville Cross Country Classic.
Junior Gabe Garbarino would come in third place for BGSU running in his first race of the 2019 season. He would finish 74th overall with a time of 24:50.5. Garbarino would also earn a new personal best for an 8k race having ran an 8k in 26:02.2 a year ago at Louisville. He shaved over a full minute off his previous time.
Finishing fourth for Bowling Green was senior Jonathan Voth finishing 93rd with a time of 25:00.9. He earned a new personal best for an 8k event as well, having finished in 25:18.5 in Louisville a year ago. This was his third time competing at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park.
Finishing fifth in team scoring for the Falcons was senior Raymond Berling. He would finish 220th with a time of 25:50.8. This was Berling's second race of the season, and his first 8k of 2019.
Freshman Joseph Johnson III would finish in 232nd place with a time of 25:54.0. This was just his second collegiate 8k, and he bested his previous time earned in the Spartan Invite at 27:11.8. Fellow BGSU freshman AJ Haffa would finish in 256th with a time of 26:04.8 also improving upon his previous 8k race at the Spartan Invite when he finished in 26:46.7. In total, six Falcons earned new personal bests for an 8k race.

Coach Juan Carrillo's Take
"This was our best team performance of the season. Six of the seven guys who competed ran lifetime beats today. Our team score was not what we wanted but we individually we had a great day. There are still some things we need to work on as a group. We leave Louisville in a positive high and we'll get back to work next week for final training preparations before the MAC championship. Our top three guys ran huge personal best, especially Gabe Garbarino who ran 24:50, 1:20 faster than his previous best."

MEN'S FULL RESULTS

Women's 5k Event
The women's 5k event saw 315 participants in total. The Falcons would finish with a team score of 526 earning them a 19th place finish in the field of 39 teams earning team scores. The women's XC team would also finish ahead of fellow MAC school Ohio who finished 28th in team scoring.

Individual Performances

In her second race of the 2019 season, sophomore Katerina Shuble would finish first for the Falcons at 46th place overall with a time of 17:53.8. With this finish, Shuble improved upon her previous time for a 5k race earned in last season's Mel Brodt Invitational when she ran unattached.
Sophomore Sydney Niekamp would finish second for BGSU at 86th overall with a time of 18:17.1. This was her second race of the season, and her first 5k race for Bowling Green.
Redshirt freshman Sydnie Firment would finish third for Bowling Green placing 122nd in the field with a time of 18:36.4. She earned a new personal best for a 5k race having topped her result in this season's Mel Brodt Invitational (Aug. 30) when she finished in 18:58.3.
Close behind Firment was redshirt sophomore Megan Aalberts who would finish fourth for Bowling Green at 126th overall with a time of 18:39.1. She would also earn a new personal best for a 5k race having previously ran it in 19:11.7 at the 2017 Mel Brodt Invitational.
Finishing fifth for the Falcons was redshirt junior Allison Holahan coming in 154th place with a time of 18:48.3. She earned a new personal best as well for a 5k race. Her previous best was also set at the 2017 Mel Brodt Invitational with a 19:22.3 finish.
Also in the field for Bowling Green was redshirt sophomore Allie Zofkie who would complete the race in 157th place with a time of 18:48.7. She also earned a new personal best having ran a 5k in 19:35.5 at last season's Mel Brodt. In total four Falcons would earn new personal bests in the race.

Coach Lou Snelling's Take
"We talked about taking risks today and being aggressive. We definitely did that today and with that took a step in the right direction, especially considering the whole squad did not compete. We'll look to take that next step at Bradley."

WOMEN'S FULL RESULTS

Up Next
The Bowling Green State University men's and women's XC teams will continue their preparation for the MAC Championships in their next meet when they compete at the Bradley "Pink" Classic on Friday, Oct. 18. It will be the fourth team event of the 2019 season for both BGXC teams.

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'