The cross country programs found more success at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Illinois. The programs took on elevated competition in their last meet before the MAC Championships.
The women were paced again by senior Rachel Walny. Walny finished third out of 298 total runners with a time of 20:44:4. Walny fought for her spot and finished just shy of Toledo’s Athena Welsh; these two are likely to compete for the MAC title later this season. Following Walny was freshman Katerina Shuble, finishing in 90th with a time of 22:05.2. This time is about 24 seconds faster than her previous 6k time. In 121st place, Sarah Hunsley crossed the finish line next for the Falcons with a time of 22:22.3. Hunsley paced the Falcons in the previous Akron 6k run on Sept. 29. Sophomore Allison Holahan was next for the Falcons, finishing in the 182nd spot and recording a personal best with a time of 22:56.6. Rounding out the scoring for the University were Megan Aalberts with a time of 23:22.0, Allie Zofkie with a time of 23:22.89 and Claire Reynolds with a time of 23:33.6. The Falcons finished 22nd overall out of 28 total scoring teams.
The Bradley Pink Classic held an open race as well, and the Falcons had two runners competing in the race. Freshman Abel Nijakowski finished first for the Falcons in 14th place with a time of 26:00.0. Nathan Bostelman finished not far behind in 17th place with a time of 26:06.6.
The men finished strong at the Classic in sixth place overall in a 33-team field, even with adverse running conditions. Runner Noah Schaub described the course.
“The course was very muddy and was difficult for us to get a grip on the ground. … It slowed us down at least 30-40 seconds,” he said.
The men also saw a slightly smaller field, with 233 total runners in the race. Schaub again paced the way for the Falcons, finishing in 15th with a time of 24:50.7. Tyler Phillips placed only five spots behind Schaub with a time of 24:59.1. Cesar Arellano continued his strong freshman campaign by wrapping up a photo-finish 58th place with Marquette’s Jon Klaiber with a time of 25:33.5. Arellano talked about the team mentality heading into the race:
“After two weeks of hard training, we were prepared to go and compete in a very competitive field. Overall, we were tough, and that was a key component in the race,” he said.
Jonathan Wenning and Jonathan Voth continued the trend of Falcons finishing close to one another with Wenning placing 88th with a time of 25:53.6 and Voth placing 90th with a time of 25:54.6. The two Falcons saw Toledo’s Jake Papish in the time between them, and they will likely see Papish again at the MAC Championships. Rounding out the scoring for the Falcons were Gabe Garbarino and Raymond Berling with times of 26:04.3 and 26:13.2, respectively. Phillips talked about how this race was a confidence boost heading into the MAC Championships.
“It was a good race for us to get out there and show what we can do. We had a bunch of young guys step up and a lot of good performances,” he said.
The Falcons now head into the MAC Championships on Oct. 29 in Toledo, on a course in which the men placed third earlier this season.
