The home course advantage did not disappoint at the Falcon Invitational as the BGSU women’s cross-country team flew out to an early lead en route to taking home first place for the second consecutive year.
“Obviously, it’s always nice to win at home, it’s always nice to represent on campus in front of your community, in front of your people; it’s important,” BGSU cross county head coach Lou Snelling said after the race at the Mel Brodt Cross Country Course. “It was cool to be at home; it was cool to be on such a fantastic course. The weather is just amazing; a beautiful day in Bowling Green. So, yeah, it was a good day.”
Junior Kylee Cubbison led Bowling Green, finishing the race in second place overall with a blistering time of 20:52.2, her highest placing this season and third top-10 finish in four races this year.
Following close behind was freshman Reese Reaman with a time of 21:35.4, fast enough to land her in seventh place and set a new personal best by .2 seconds.
“Had a really nice day,” Snelling said about Reaman’s performance. “Put herself in a good spot early, stuck really well through the middle; I mean, she’s a little bit more of a middy, so the middle can be kind of a tough moment to kind of focus through and stick through, and she did that extremely well.
Fellow freshman Lexi Panning was right behind Reaman, finishing in eighth place with a time of 21:38.7.
“The whole freshman class is just learning a lot really quickly,” Snelling said.
Junior Regina Rose finished in 10th place at 21:49.4, and right on her tail was sophomore Rachael Withrow, who finished in 11th place at 21:51.1.
The team’s scoring was rounded out by freshman Amelia Barilla (16th) at 22:05.3 and junior Madison Foster (21st) with a time of 22:15.2.
Next, the Falcons will be in action at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Cross Country Championship in Muncie, Indiana, on Saturday, Nov. 2. After that, Bowling Green will head to Norton, Ohio, for the NCAA Regionals on Friday, Nov. 15.
“Two weeks for us is the moment, and then 13 days after that with the NCAA Regional Championships is the moment. So, we’ve been building towards those moments all summer and all fall, and I feel like we’re in a good place,” Snelling said. “Our best races are in front of us; let’s put it that way. I feel really confident about that.”
