Arellano, Niekamp Lead The Way For Hosts In Falcon Invitational

Saturday, October 16

Bowling Green, Ohio

11 a.m.

Bowling Green State University

Falcon Invite

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

October 16, 2021 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Bob Rothermel 8K Results Women's Steve Price 6K Results

By: Pershelle Rohrer, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams fought through the wind and mud during Saturday (Oct. 16) morning's Falcon Invitational. The Falcon men placed third in the Bob Rothermel 8k behind Cesar Arellano's second-place finish. Sydney Niekamp finished ninth on the women's side, leading the shorthanded women's squad in the Steve Price 6k event. The women did not earn a team score in the race.

Men's Bob Rothermel 8K Event
The Bob Rothermel 8k event featured 75 athletes from nine schools. The Falcons earned a team score of 87 points, good for third place out of seven scoring teams. Oakland took first in the competition with 49 points total, and Wright State edged out the Falcons for second place with 77 points. Bowling Green was highest finisher of four Mid-American Conference teams, finishing ahead of Buffalo (97), Kent State (101), and Toledo (126). Miami (OH) and Akron also had runners competing in the event.

Individual Performances

Cesar Arellano earned his second top-three finish in a row, finishing second with a time of 26:03.60. The senior kept with the front group of runners early in the race and eventually pulled ahead, leading for a time before ultimately finishing just four seconds behind Kent State's Baidy Ba. Arellano bested his time in last year's Falcon Invitational (27:01.3) by just under a minute.
Liam Seiple earned his best performance of the season, crossing the finish line at 26:57.9 to finish 12^thoverall. He beat his previous season best (27:09.91), which came in the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic on Oct. 2, by 12 seconds.
AJ Haffa was the third Falcon finisher, finishing in 24^th place at the 27:30.95 mark.
Juniors Omar Vazquez and Joseph Johnson III rounded out the top five for Bowling Green, finishing side by side for 32^nd and 33^rd place, respectively. Vazquez earned a time of 27:40.42, finishing just 0.07 second ahead of Johnson, whose time was 27:40.49.

Coach Kelly Leatherman's Take
"It was a good day from the men's side. Cesar went out there and really wanted to do a top performance, really wanted to go out and win. From there, I challenged a lot of the team, two weeks out is MAC, and so I challenged them like, 'Okay, let's own our spot today. Let's make sure we end the regular season on a very positive note and with some good momentum heading into MAC,' and I really feel like we did that today."

Women's Steve Price 6K Event
The Steve Price 6k event saw 86 athletes competing from nine schools, seven of which earned team scores. Akron took the top team score with 42 points, and Oakland (72) and Kent State (80) rounded out the top three. Bowling Green did not compete for a team score, but six total Falcons participated in the race, including two unattached runners.

Individual Performances

Sydney Niekamp finished first for the Falcons and ninth overall. Niekamp got off to a quick start and maintained a solid pace to stay in the top ten for the entire race. She earned a time of 23:38.81
Freshman Emma Steingass finished second for the Falcons, posting a time of 24:06.65 for a new personal best. She finished 24^th while competing unattached, beating her previous best from the Spartan Invitational (24:54.0) by nearly 50 seconds.
Raegan Burkey finished 36^th overall, crossing the finish line at 24:39.81 in her second collegiate 6k. The freshman ran unattached in the event.
Finishing two places behind Burkey in 38^th was sophomore Kristin Groppe. She finished the race in 24:40.98.
Sophomore Alyssa Ellerbrock and junior Sydnie Firment finished fifth and sixth for the Falcons. Ellerbrock placed 42^nd with a time of 24:47.05, and Firment finished 58^th, finishing at 25:25.74.

Coach Lou Snelling's Take
"A bit of a mixed bag for us. That's kind of been the theme this year so far. Had some solid individual performances and not, so yeah, a bit of a mixed bag."

Up Next
The Falcons will send smaller squads to Dexter, Mich., to compete in the EMU Fall Cross Country Classic on Friday, Oct. 22. Both teams will run a 5k at Hudson Mills Metropark, with the men competing at 4 p.m. and the women to follow at 4:30 p.m. The event marks the Orange and Brown's final meet before the Mid-American Conference Championship on Saturday, Oct. 30 in Ypsilanti, Mich.

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'