All of the Bowling Green cross country team’s best efforts weren’t enough to overcome a talented field at the Great Lakes Regional meet. The women would be the only BG team to face this competition as the men decided to end their season early.
The women arrived at Terre Haute, Ind. for the race and were met by some of the top competition in the nation. Notre Dame, who went home with the regional title, is ranked fourth nationally. The Irish finished ahead of No. 7 Michigan, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 19 Marquette and No. 33 Indiana.
The Falcons would finish behind these teams en route to a 18th place finish.
The team, even without anyone going to the NCAA meet, can walk away feeling good about their performances.
Team captain Amber Culp walked away with a 34th place finish and a time of 21:50.6 in the 6,000 meter race. The time would not only be a personal best for Culp in 6K action, but would also break the school record by nearly 15 seconds.
“Amber had a good race today,” head coach Cami Wells said. “The field was tough but she got out there and gave everything she had and finished off her career setting a school record and placing 15 places better than last year’s meet. Amber has had a great cross country career here at BG and we will miss her leadership.”
The rest of the team finished strong on the day as well.
Andrea Pollack was the next Falcon finisher coming in 96th place in the 214 runner race with a time of 23:02.9. She was followed closely by Leslie Carden (23:10.5), Melissa Krueger (23:17.6), Bridget Dalic (23:29.8), Leighann Kramer (23:34.8) and Niki Suitor (23:37.7). Each of the runners had a record breaking day with their finishes.
“All seven women ran personal best times for the 6K,” Wells said. “They had a good effort with our two through seven runners all finishing within 35 seconds of each other.”
And even though the team made an early exit this season without any runners making it to the national meet, the team knows that their efforts were well worth the time and that next season is right around the corner.
“It has been a good year,” Wells said. “We have made a lot of progress toward our goals for the future. Now the team will take a well deserved week break before they start their indoor track training.”
