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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Falcon Invitational
MXC Wins First Meet in Eight Seasons
October 16, 2026 | Men's Cross Country
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — On Friday morning at the Mel Brodt Cross Country Course, the Bowling Green men's cross country team won a meet for the first time in more than eight years.
The Falcons edged out the victory with 39 points and seven personal records. The field included four other teams and 48 runners: Wright State, Toledo, Kent State and Akron.
"We came in and knew exactly what we needed to do today," head coach Rhynard said. "Everyone had a race plan, and they executed exceptionally well. They put themselves up in the front of the race early and just kept building off that. To come away with a team win, that was our goal."
Owen Zaumeyer continued his strong fall season with a first-place finish, breaking the 25-minute mark in 24:53.5. Colin Buening followed in seventh in 25:30.1, and Luke Lesseuer finished in the top 10 at 25:33.8. All three set personal records.
"Owen's individual win there. Just a really good race up front," Rhynard said.
Aiden Lee (25:45.6) and Micah Bentley (26:10.0) finished 13th and 18th, respectively. Luke Woolard set a personal record in 26:14.9, placing 20th.
Freshman Cameron Hohman, who also set a personal best, wrapped up the scoring for Bowling Green in 26:20.6.
Wyatt Ulbricht finished in 26:33.9, while Gibson Shore (26:42.8) and Ashton Boyd (26:44.6) each set personal records. Isaak Rubley crossed in 27:26.6 to complete the day for the Falcons.
Rhynard said the wet conditions suited his team, especially after a difficult race two weeks earlier at the Paul Short Run.
"This is true cross country weather," Rhynard said. "We thrive in this. We love it, and hey, it's not the BG wind, so this is nothing."
"Two weeks ago, at Paul Short, drastic difference in weather. It was 85 degrees, sun, humid, it took a toll on us. We walked away not really happy with our performance; we had a little bit of something to prove to ourselves here. We're fit, we can race, and it doesn't matter the weather."
"The resilience of them, being gritty throughout the whole race, competing, we knew who we had to keep our eyes on, and they did that. Very happy with the whole team race today," he added.
The win also gives the team momentum heading into the postseason.
"An exciting day for us, it builds that confidence with two weeks until the MAC meet," Rhynard said.
Bowling Green will return to the course in two weeks, traveling to Kalamazoo, Mich., for the Mid-American Conference Championship on Oct. 30.
