Perry Wins MAC Title As BGSU Hosts MAC Championships

Saturday, November 21

Bowling Green, Ohio

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

MAC Championships

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

November 21, 2020 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Photo Gallery

By: by Tom Cassity, Athletic Communications Intern

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Despite cooler temperatures and an abbreviated season, the Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Mid-American Conference Championships on Saturday (Nov. 21). BGSU redshirt freshman Kailee Perry earned the women's cross country program its first MAC individual championship since 1995 and the team finished in third, up seven spots from a year ago. The BGSU men's cross country team placed eighth on Saturday.

FULL MEN'S RESULTS
FULL WOMEN'S RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERY

Men's 8k Race

The men's 8k event saw 68 total participants from Bowling Green, Ohio, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Kent State, Central Michigan, and Toledo. The Eastern Michigan Eagles took the top spot in the race with a team score of 39, securing their spot at nationals. The RedHawks from Miami finished in second with a team score of 63. Buffalo took third with a score of 94, finishing ahead of the fourth place Ohio University Bobcats, who posted a team score of 116. Narrowly finishing behind them in fifth was Toledo with a team score of 123. Kent State finished in sixth with a team score of 139. Coming in seventh was Central Michigan with a team score of 182, finishing just one point ahead of Bowling Green, who finished in eighth place with a team score of 183.

Individual Performances

Junior Cesar Arellano led the way for the Falcons. Arellano finished first for Bowling Green and 29th overall with a time of 25:24.3.
Finishing second for the Falcons was sophomore Vince Manning, who finished 36th overall with a time of 25:41.8. Right behind him in third place was freshman Drew Blazer, whose time of 25:44.0 was good for 37th overall.
Coming in fourth place for Bowling Green was sophomore AJ Haffa, who finished 44th overall. Haffa recorded a time of 25:59.3.
Sophomore Joseph Johnson III finished fifth for the Orange and Brown and 51st overall. Johnson III posted a time of 26:10.7.

Post-Race Interview with Coach Juan Carillo

Women's 6k Race

The women's 6k event saw 95 participants in total featuring Bowling Green, Toledo, Miami (Ohio), Ball State, Ohio, Akron, Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, and Western Michigan. Northern Illinois would take the top spot in the women's race with a team score of 84, punching their ticket to nationals. Both Toledo and Bowling Green narrowly closed the gap, finishing in second and third with team scores of 87 and 90, respectively. Not far behind in fourth place was Miami (Ohio) with a team score of 95. Ball State earned fifth place with a team score of 130, with Ohio right behind them in sixth place with a team score of 142. Coming in seventh place was Akron with a team score of 160. Central Michigan finished in eighth place with a team score of 223, with Eastern Michigan narrowly finishing behind them in ninth with a score of 227. Kent State took tenth place with a team score of 231. Western Michigan came in 11th with a team score of 273, with Buffalo finishing in 12th with a score of 357.

Perry Shines To Win MAC Title

Redshirt freshman Kailee Perry followed up her outstanding performance at the Falcon Invitational with an individual victory at the MAC Championships. Perry finished with a remarkable time of 20:41.0, coming even closer to the school record of 20:25.0, held by Rachel Walny, than she did two weeks ago.
Kailee Perry is now one of 11 Falcons in the history of the program to qualify for nationals. She will be the first representative of Bowling Green to run at nationals since 1998, when Wendy Licht-Ordway finished 159th overall.
Perry is also the fourth individual MAC Champion in program history, joining the exclusive list of Suzanne Isco, Tracey Losi, JoAnn Lanciaux (twice), and Betsy Ryan. She is the first individual MAC Champion since Isco in 1995.
After the race, Perry was also awarded MAC Freshman of the Year. She is the second Falcon in program history to earn that award, joining Rachel Walny in 2015.

Post-Race Interview with MAC Champion Kailee Perry

Other Individual Results

Coming in second for the Falcons and sixth overall was junior Katerina Shuble. Shuble finished the 6k with a time of 21:09.5 and earned first team All-MAC honors.
Shuble's sixth place finish marked the first time since 1998 that the Falcons had two runners cross the finish line out of the first six. Hanane Sabri (second) and Wendy Licht-Ordway (third) were the most recent duo to achieve such a feat.
Finishing third for Bowling Green and 16th overall was junior Sydnie Niekamp. Niekamp posted a time of 21:41.4.
Sophomore Libbie Gleason was the fourth to cross the finish line for the Orange and Brown, finishing 30th overall with a time of 22:15.1.
Rounding out the first five for the Falcons was junior Jessi Lindstrom. Lindstrom finished 37th overall and posted a time of 22:24.6.

Post-Race Interview with Head Coach Lou Snelling

Up Next
After a long competitive hiatus, Kailee Perry will run at the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships on March 15, 2021. She will be the first Falcon runner to compete at nationals since Wendy Licht-Ordway in 1998.

Tweets To Know

CHAMPION! #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/1R73Suo5sR
— BGSU XC/Track (@BG_XCTrack) November 21, 2020

Kailee Perry wins our first MAC cross country individual championship since 1998. Highlights of her wire-to-wire win! #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/ZPk0QW6ShP
— BGSU XC/Track (@BG_XCTrack) November 21, 2020

Final highlight package from today's successful day on the course for the MAC Championships. #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/qrBE8OvV73
— BGSU XC/Track (@BG_XCTrack) November 22, 2020

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'