Cubbison, Named to All-MAC, Leads Falcons to 4th Place Finish at MAC Championships

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

Cubbison, Named to All-MAC, Leads Falcons to 4th Place Finish at MAC Championships

October 28, 2023 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Support Out Student-Athletes MAC Championship Central

By: by Sam Hughes, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's and women's Cross-Country teams hosted and competed in the MAC Championships on Saturday. The women's side would highlight the meet placing 4^th among the conference with Kylee Cubbison named to the Second All-MAC team.

Womens 6k
The women's squad found depth performances from Katerina Shuble and Regina Rose to supplement the top finisher for the Falcons in Kylee Cubbison. The team would tally 117 points which claimed 4^th place in the 2023 Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championship. The team entered the weekend being ranked 5^th among the MAC Conference Pre-Championship Coaches Poll.
Kailee Perry emerged from the start first among the Falcons and held that position through the initial third of the race. Kylee Cubbison would eventually pass Perry in a second half push that would land the Sophomore in 11^th place overall. The performance of Cubbison earned conference recognition as she was named to the Second All-MAC team. Cubbison recorded a personal record in addition to being named to the Second All-MAC team by edging a 6K performance at the Paul Short Run last season that logged a time of 21:15.6. Cubbison's time of 21:01.35 would break her 6K personal record by 14 seconds.
Regina Rose and Rachael Withrow would also break personal records by 19 and 14 seconds, respectively. Rose would break a time of 21:46.2 that she previously set at last year's MAC Championship while Withrow would break a time set at the Falcon Invite just two weeks prior to this year's MAC Championship.
Depth talent in Katerina Shuble and Regina Rose played a key role in the Falcons placement in the conference championship. The two placed within the top four Falcons, logging places of 17^th and 21^st.

Falcon Performances
·      Kylee Cubbison crossed the finish line first for the Falcons at 21:01.35 (11^th).
·      Katerina Shuble, Kailee Perry, and Regina Rose finish together at 21:22.33 (17^th), 21:26.23 (20^th), and 21:27.22 (21^st), respectively.
·      Izzy Best and Rachael Withrow finish together at 22:26.55 (48^th) and 22:26.82 (49^th).
· Kristin Groppe finished 3 seconds shy of a personal record at 22:31.1 (54th).
·      Elise Johnson and Emma Hellwege round out the Falcons with times of 22:43.98 (66^th) and 23:15.39 (81^st).

Mens 8k
The men's team tallied 229 points which claimed 9^th among the Mid-American Conference. Anthony Sweet set a personal record with a time of 25:00.19, a 13 second improvement from his performance at the Louisville Classic earlier this season where the transfer logged an 8K time of 25:13.3.
Anthony Sweet saw a second half push that would pass Heriberto Alvarez who led the Falcons through the first two miles. Sweet would end up just shy of All-MAC second team honors after a 23^rd place performance.

Falcon Performances
·      Anthony Sweet brought it home for the Falcons with a time of 25:00.19 (23^rd).
·      Heriberto Alvarez finished second among the team with a time of 25:23.34 (36^th).
·      AJ Haffa finished at 25:51.69 (58^th).
·      Mikey Worboy logged a time of 26:21.65 (63^rd).
·      Ben Myers and Christian Gagliardi finished at 26:52.47 (70^th) and 27:03.6 (73^rd)
·      Charlie Nowinski, Luke Woolard, and Hunter Sidle wrapped it up for the Falcons at 27:31.3 (76^th), 28:35.4 (79^th), and 28:40.6 (80^th), respectively.

Coaches Thoughts
"I'm super proud of these girls with Kylee, a true Sophomore, earning All-MAC honors. We put in a really good effort so I'm happy with the day on the women's side" said Head Coach Lou Snelling on the 4^th place performance of the women's squad.

"I'm proud of Anthony, Herbie, and AJ for taking a swing at it today. The back end hurt us a bit. I think we could have picked off at least one team if we had a better four or five spot. That's how it goes, and I think this is good motivation for the future." said Snelling on the men's performance that would land the side in 9^th place.

"Looking ahead to regionals, I think we have a chance on the women's side to see our best placing in a couple decades. We are excited to take the next step this season." said Snelling on the upcoming regional championships.

Lou Snelling went on to reflect on the opportunity of host the 2023 MAC Championships by saying "I want to thank the University and administration for all the support to make a championship like this happen. This is a phenomenal facility, the best in the conference and one of the best in the region. It was an honor to host the Championships this year."

Up Next
The Falcons will return to action at the Great Lakes Regionals on November 10^th in Madison, Wisconsin. The Falcons will bring both teams to compete against top talent in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

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'