Freshman Nicola Viljoen lead the way for the men’s and women’s cross country teams this past Saturday at the inaugural Great American Legends meet. Viljoen placed 11th out of 109 runners who competed in the 6K race. She completed the race in a time of 23:44. Team scores were once again not kept.
Finishing second for the women was Junior Amber Culp who took 17th place with a time of 23:58. Senior Briana Killian was next with a 21st place finish and a time of 24:09. Rounding out the pack were senior Christy Paine (37th, 25:00), senior Cyndi Bostdorff (39th, 25:08), senior Sarah Lohrbach (42nd, 25:11), junior Leighann Kramer (43rd, 25:12), freshman Emily Jackson (66th, 26:03), sophomore Melissa Krueger (73rd, 26:25) and freshman Leslie Carden (76th, 26:46).
Junior Phil King and senior Troy Stiles were the front-runners for the men’s squad, finishing within one second of each other to take 37th and 38th place out of 74 runners that competed in the 8K race. King finished with a time of 27:41, while Stiles came in at 27:42. The rest of the Falcons to finish the race included sophomore Patrick Maynard (54th, 28:46), sophomore Kris Lachowski (58th, 29:01), junior Ed Stonestreet (62nd, 29:29), and freshman Josh Stucky (67th, 29:42.)
Kyle Orender of host Purdue took first place in the men’s race with a time of 25:06. John Kronforst and Bill Jason from the University of Illinois took second and third place with times of 25:10 and 25:13 respectively. Brad Bennett of Butler University(25:25) and David Rae of Purdue (25:39) rounded out the men’s top five.
The University of Marquette dominated the women’s race, taking first through third place. Jessie Swan and Susan Barth both came in at 22:03 and Jackie Swan finished it in 22:34. Rounding out the women’s top five were Jenni Goebel from the University of Illinois at Chicago (23:06) and Corrie Whisner of Purdue (23:16.) Had results been kept, Marquette would have taken first place for the women, and Purdue would have taken first for the men. The women Harriers would have finished 4th out of the 11 schools that competed, while the men would have finished 7th out of 9 schools in their race.
The Falcons had to overcome the unseasonably hot temperatures that have hit the area over the last few days. They also had to compete on a course that none of them had ever run on before.
“It was really hot out there, and the course was very rough,” men’s runner Stiles said.
Senior Mario Rothmund, who ran very well the previous week at Eastern Michigan, had a rough outing but is expected to be back to full strength for this weeks upcoming meet.
The Falcons got a chance this weekend to get a feel for the course that the Great Lakes Regional Championships will be held at in November.
“It was nice to get out there and get a feel for the course,” Stiles said.
The Harriers now return home and get set for their only home meet this year. They will compete in the Mel Brodt Invitational on Saturday September 14th. The men’s race will start at 9:30 a.m. and the women’s race will follow at 10:30 a.m.
