Bowling Green athletics were not completely shut out this weekend due to cancellations from Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.
The BG men and women’s cross country hosted the 2001 Mel Brodt Invitational, which 11 teams from around the Ohio region participated in. Some schools scheduled to race, including Akron, Dayton and Youngstown State chose not to make the trip.
For some runners, the Invitational was more than just a race, it was also a statement and a heartfelt gesture of support.
“With the attack, I think the terrorists want us to be scared,” BG freshman Melissa Krueger said. “We’re upset with what happened, but we had to just pick up and go. Running helps us get away from things. Our prayers are with the victims families of the attack.”
Running is about focus though, so both teams had to put aside their thoughts and concentrate on the race ahead. The concentration helped. Both Falcon team raced to second place finishes in the event led by strong individual performances by BG runners. The Falcon men expressed some disappointed of a second place finish at their home meet since they won the event last year.
The team finished with a total of 70 points. Malone won the Invitational with a score of 33 points. Senior Tom Kutter led the way for BG, finishing in a time of 25:00.64, good enough for third place. Malone’s Daniel Kibungei won the race in a time of 24:51.38. Last year’s winner was slower than both Kibungei and Kutter, recording a time of 25:18. Sophomore Justin Perez ran over a minute faster than he did in last year’s race for a sixth place finish (25:35.55).
“We were a little disappointed,” sophomore Justin Perez said. “It’s early in the season and this gave us the opportunity to work out the kinks.”
Some of those kinks were also injury related. Freshman Grant Shadden, who won the meet at the previous week’s meet against Ohio, injured his hip during the race, resulting in a 20th place finish Saturday.
The BG women’s team improved from last year’s third place finish to second. Junior Joy Echler led the pace for the Falcons, finishing second with a time of 18:14. Xavier’s Kerry Hil beat out her 91 competitors with a time of 17:56. BG senior Sarah Lohbach finished seventh (18:57) and Krueger finished 14th in a time of 19:15.
“The mood after the race was wonderful,” Krueger said. “It was great to pull together as a team. We were happy to see that everybody dropped their time or came close to it from the last meet.”
Both teams are scheduled to have the week off before heading to The Meet of Champions Saturday Sept. 29.
