Women Place 13th at Great Lakes Regionals

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

November 10, 2023 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: by Sam Hughes, BGSU Athletics

MADISON, Wisconsin – The Bowling Green State University men's and women's Cross Country teams competed in the Great Lakes Regionals on Friday afternoon. The women's side would go on to see their best point total at the regional championships since the 2016-17 season.

Womens 6k
The women's squad emerged from an extremely difficult regional championship with their best placement in points since the 2016-17 campaign. The Falcons were led by Kailee Perry and Kylee Cubbison throughout the race and received competitive depth finishes from Katerina Shuble, Regina Rose, Kristin Groppe, Rachael Withrow, and Izzy Best. Perry jumped out to the early lead and never looked back while Kylee Cubbison held second place throughout the meet as well. Four Falcons placed within the top 80 places to lead the Falcons towards their ultimate result of 361 points. The team placed 13^th among the 34 team field while also placing as the 5^th MAC school within the regional championship. The performance would also serve as a lasting memory for two senior Falcons as Katerina Shuble and Kristin Groppe competed in their final collegiate race.

Falcon Performances
·      Kailee Perry crossed the finish line first for the Falcons with a time of 21:14.1 (33^rd).
·      Kylee Cubbison followed which logged a time of 21:29.5 (53^rd).
·      Katerina Shuble was the third Falcon to finish at 21:46.7 (70^th).
·      Regina Rose checked in at 21:55.7 (78^th).
·      Kristin Groppe came in fifth among the team with a time of 22:44.8 (130^th).
·      Rachael Withrow and Izzy Best brought it home for the Falcons at 23:11.9 (162^nd) and 23:26.8 (175^th), respectively.

Men's 10k
The men's side faced the top talent within the Great Lakes region in a 10k race where the team claimed 26^th place out of a 30-team field, tallying 741 points. Anthony Sweet and Heriberto Alvarez led the Falcons throughout the first three kilometers as the two were packed together throughout the first third of the race. Sweet would eventually pull away and finish first for the Falcons at 31:33.6 (86^th) in his first 10k race with Bowling Green. Heriberto Alvarez would follow and log a finish of 32:02.9. Alvarez's finish would break his 10k personal record set at last year's Great Lakes regional by 24 seconds. AJ Haffa, Christian Gagliardi, Ben Myers, and Charlie Nowinski all finished in competitive places to edge Central Michigan in the table, a team that had edged the Falcons previously at the MAC Championships just two weeks prior. The Falcons also saw AJ Haffa compete in his last race with the team as the Painesville native is in his last year of eligibility.

Falcon Performances
·      Anthony Sweet was the first Falcon to finish with a time of 31:33.6 (86^th).
·      Heriberto Alvarez finished at 32:02.9 (126^th) which set a personal record.
·      AJ Haffa, Christian Gagliardi, and Ben Myers finish in a pack with times of 33:16.4 (175^th), 33:18.7 (177^th), and 33:26.7 (180^th), respectively.
·      Charlie Nowinski rounded out the team at 34:54.3 (204^th).

Coaches Thoughts
"It was a solid day for the guys. They will feel good that we reached some targets and goals that were set coming into the race. Anthony showed us the way home and had a very solid day for us. Being in the top hundred is a positive way to end the season for us" said head coach Lou Snelling on the men's performance.

Snelling went on to reflect on the women's performance by saying "We talked about how it was going to be really tight going in today. We thought it was going to come down to a couple points and that is exactly how it played out. But the motivation side is great knowing that we can place even higher moving forward".

"Seniors across the board, on both sides, I'm really appreciative for what they've done for the program. It was great to see the progression over the years for all of them" said Snelling regarding the seniors that are wrapped up their last year of eligibility.

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'