The BGSU Men’s Cross Country team had their work cut out for them on Saturday at the 20th annual Mel Brodt Invitational.
BG went up against Mid-American Conference teams, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Ohio University as well as Youngstown and Cincinnati.
Although the Falcons had decent performances from freshman Eddie Kipchoge and junior Brad Wells among others, they managed a fifth place finish with 109 points.
Eastern Michigan won on the men’s side with 32 points.
Eddie Kipchoge inarguably dominated the men’s race finishing first with a collegiate best 24:42.89 in the 8,000 meter race. He was followed by Central Michigan’s Jacob Korir who finished with a 25:05.06.
“The win felt good. I really didn’t expect it,” Kipchoge said. “[Korir] was real strong. I felt weak at the beginning of the race, but I started to feel strong later on.”
“It was tremendous. I’m very happy for Eddie,” Wells said of her top runner.
Kipchoge wasn’t alone on the course though as Brad Wells finished strong in 12th with a 26:02.07, Rogers Kipchumba finished 26th with a 27:06.30, Kevin Kaighin finished 34th with a 27:38.23 and Edgar Ramirez topped off the five scoring spots with a 36th place finish and a time of 27:47.87.
Coach Cami Wells is not deterred by the overall finish though.
“We’ll keep improving as our confidence grows. We’ve still got some work to do, but it’s a tough field this year,” she said.
This is only the Falcons’ second meet of the season after competing in a dual meet with rival Toledo on Sept. 1 in which the Falcons lost to Toledo by a narrow five points.
The Falcons still have at least five meets this year, depending on post-season meets, which Wells was quick to point out concerning the Falcons’ future.
The Falcons were without freshman Hillary Maiyo on Saturday due to a knee injury from the dual meet with Toledo two weeks ago. Maiyo is looking forward to returning and to helping with the team effort.
He’s hoping to be a contributor to Kipchoge’s success giving him competition even when the other teams can’t bring it.
“My goal this season is to push Eddie. He looked alone up there,” Maiyo said.
The Falcons travel to Minneapolis, Minn. next Saturday for the Roy Griak Invitational, which has hosted big name teams such as Ohio State, Duke, Iowa and the defending Division I national champion Wisconsin team.
