Eddie Kipchoge continued his dominance this weekend as he easily won the Falcon Invitational, his second win in a row.
Kipchoge, who has won four of five races this year and has three Mid-American Conference Runner of the Week awards, came across the finish line with a collegiate personal best time of 24:40.33, beating the next runner by more than 37 seconds.
“Eddie ran an outstanding race,” said coach Cami Wells. “He went out aggressively.”
Finishing fifth place in the field of 158 was Brad Wells. Wells, finally recovered from a bout with bronchitis, turned in a personal best time of 25:44.37.
“Brad went into the race with a lot more confidence, he made some adjustments and he ran a great race,” Cami Wells said.
Rogers Kipchumba, running strong after struggling against illnesses for the past three weeks, finished third on the team with a 47th place finish. His time of 26:59.50 is a season best for him.
Kipchumba was followed by Edgar Ramirez who finished 72nd and had a season best time of 27:21.51. Ramirez was followed closely by Hillary Maiyo, returning for his first race since a knee injury. Mayo was 76th with a time of 27:23.27, to round out BG’s scorers.
Ever-present was the Falcons’ two packs of runners; Kipchoge and Wells in the first pack and Kipchumba, Ramirez and Maiyo in the second. The Falcons have struggled to close the gap between Wells and the last three scorers this season, and it has been a focal point for the team in practice.
“We’re continuing to do a better job in practice, and their times are getting closer,” Cami Wells said. “We’ve just been slowly improving this season.”
The Falcons take a much needed rest this weekend as they prepare for the MAC meet on Oct. 28 in Buffalo, NY.
“We’re just excited about the meet,” coach Wells said. “Saturday was a positive step for the men and they’re going into MAC with a good frame of mind, but it will still be difficult.”
Kipchoge, undefeated so far in the MAC, is setting his sights on the championship.
“He has pushed himself all season because he knows he has the MAC meet soon and he’s got to be ready,” Cami Wells said.
Brad Wells is also eyeing MAC honors. Wells hopes to get first team all-MAC which is given the top 14 finishers in the race, and Wells has certainly turned in the times this year to be a contender.
The island course at Buffalo is flat and windy, which is as good as being at home for the Falcons. The only worry about the setting of this year’s conference meet is that on Saturday, Buffalo had to postpone their football game against Miami after getting a record 23 inches of snow Friday night. Wells and the Falcons are not afraid though.
“There’s no excuse, everyone runs in the same conditions and we’ll be ready for anything Buffalo’s got for us,” Cami Wells said.
