Bowling Green Cross Country To Compete In The NCAA Great Lakes Regional This Friday

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams will venture to Madison, Wisconsin this Friday (Nov. 15) to compete in the 2019 NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The Regionals will consist of a 6-kilometer race for the women at 12:30 PM ET, and a 10-kilometer race for the men at 1:30 PM ET. Both races will take place at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on the campus of the University of Wisconsin.

2019 NCAA Great Lakes Regional at Wisconsin
The 2019 NCAA Great Lakes Regionals will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, the site of the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The regionals will consist of the Women's 6k race at 12:30 PM eastern time, and the Men's 10k race at 1:30 PM eastern time. For more information on the regional CLICK HERE.

Scouting The Field
Bowling Green will be racing against a field of competition representing the majority of schools from all across their region. The NCAA Cross Country Great Lakes Region is one of the most competitive regions nationally. Among the men's teams, the top five teams regionally are all ranked in the top 30 in the country, including Wisconsin (No. 1 in the region, No. 9 in the nation), Indiana (No. 2, No. 13), Michigan (No. 3, No. 16), Purdue (No. 4, No. 17) and Notre Dame (No. 5, No. 19). The regional men's field will also include strong MAC competition including Eastern Michigan and Miami, who are No. 8 and No. 9 respectively.
The Great Lakes Region remains just as strong in the women's field of competition with the top five in the region also ranked in the top 30 nationally. This includes Michigan State (No. 1 in the region, No. 6 in the nation), Wisconsin (No. 2, No. 7), Michigan (No. 3, No. 11), Notre Dame (No. 4, No. 16) and Ohio State (No. 5, No. 20). Six Mid-American Conference schools are also in the top 15 regionally including Eastern Michigan (No. 8), Miami (No. 9), Toledo (No. 10), Akron (No. 12), Ball State (No. 13) and Ohio (No. 15).

Notable Quotes
"There are a couple of dynamics in play", Head Coach Lou Snelling said on the women's team preparing for regionals. "There's the mental side of having to get refocused after a big emotional commitment for the MAC. That's not a light switch, it's a process and it's something we identified in our goals coming into the season, just having to refocus quickly. We have been talking about goals for that meet for a very long time. On the physical side of things, a lot of it isn't so much about what happened this week or last week. Its how you set up things back in August, September and early October and the choices you make then. That affects a lot of success at a regional championship." Coach went on to explain that depth is extremely important in a regional championship, and they are trying to put as many in the top 50 to 100 as possible. The team goal is top 15 in the region.

"8k to 10k training is very similar", Coach Juan Carrillo said on the men's preparation for the 10k at regionals. "For the younger guys it's a little harder to race a 10k, even an 8k. The freshman are coming out of high school where the most they've run is 5k and now they have to do 10k, so its twice the distance. The upperclassmen are used to it, they know what it feels like, they've done it in past years. So it is really just a challenge for the younger kids. My message to the team is let's go had a good race to where we can feel good about ourselves, be smart, and additionally beat as many MAC schools as we can."

Last Time Out
The BGSU Cross Country teams took to a cold and snowy NIU North 40 XC Course for the 2019 Mid–American Conference Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2^nd. The men's team took eighth place overall in team scoring out of nine squads with 190 points, while the women's team earned 10th place overall out of 12 earning 251 points.
Coming in first for the Bowling Green Falcons in the MAC men's 8k event was sophomore Cesar Arellano coming in 17th overall with a time of 26:05.7. This was his fourth race of the 2019 season, and his second time in a row finishing first for BGSU in team scoring. He finished first for Bowling Green at Bradley two weeks prior to conference (Oct. 18). Finishing first in the Women's 6k for the Orange and Brown was sophomore Katerina Shuble in 19th place overall with a time of 22:34.0. It was her second time competing for the MAC Championships and her third time finishing first for Bowling Green this season.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Bowling Green Falcon 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'

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