The Mel Brodt Invitational brought mixed results for the Bowling Green cross country team.
The women, led by captain Amber Culp, finished second out of the eight division one teams involved in the meet.
“On the women’s side, our goal was to win and we fell short of that goal,” coach Cami Wells said. “But I was happy with the women’s team, they raced hard and fought out there.”
The Falcons were powered to the second place finish by Culp, who set her home course record with a run of 18:15 in the five kilometer race. The run beat her previous record by 50 seconds.
Following behind Culp in the top 25 for the Falcons were Niki Suitor (18:54), Bridget Dalic (19:05), and Elise Gould (19:07).
And while a second place finish may seem like a worthy prize, it is nothing but bittersweet for the Falcons considering that it was Central Michigan who finished first.
“We just didn’t have quite enough to beat Central today,” Wells said. “I would say Central is definitely one of the contenders for the MAC title and we look forward to racing against them later this season.”
On the men’s side, the Falcons struggled with injuries and a weakened roster en route to a fifth place finish out of six division one teams.
Edgar Ramirez led the men through the eight kilometer race with a time of 26:58.24. That time would earn Ramirez a 27th place finish in the race.
Wells looked grimly on her team’s performance.
“The men’s team finish was a disappointment today,” she said. “Our goal was to race well against Ohio University and we didn’t accomplish that today.”
“Edwin Cheriuyot was running number two for us until a little after the three mile mark,” Wells said. “That is where he pulled up due to his ongoing knee injury.”
A bright spot for the men came from a runner who wasn’t racing for the Falcons.
Men’s leader Mario Rothmund made his first appearance of the season as an unattached runner. Rothmund used his time on the track to his advantage, running a time of 25:52 and finishing seventh overall. The Falcons are still waiting to hear from the NCAA about Rothmund’s eligibility.
Next, the Falcons will see action at the Toledo Invitational in Toledo this Saturday.
