The Bowling Green Falcons started their season on a good foot at the Toledo Invitational.
Junior Becca Rae led the women’s cross country team and redshirt freshman Nathan Tuck finished within the top ten overall against Eastern Michigan and the University of Toledo. Both men’s and women’s opened up with the 5,000-meter to start the meet.
Rae set a new personal best of 17:56.1, coming in fourth overall and finishing under the 18-minute mark. Freshman Rachel Walny running unattached in her first meet, also finished under the 18-minute mark with a time of 17:57.
The women’s cross country nabbed two more personal bests with redshirt sophomore Mackenzie McMillin and sophomore Brent Darah both getting under the 18 and a half mark.
Kuck finished seventh in the race with a new personal record of 16:01.7 and was the third freshman in the race to finish. Behind him were fellow freshmen Kohl Taberner and Nick Voth, getting 13th and 14th place respectively.
Head coach Lou Snelling took notice of Rae and Walny’s performances, citing them as the positives to build off of for the future.
“Becca Rae had a great start individually and was the first to cross the line under 18 minutes,” Snelling said. “She wasn’t in uniform but Rachel Walny also under 18 minutes as well.”
Assistant men’s coach Eric Thatcher noted how well Kuck handled himself in the race, pacing himself well while showing aggression. “He [Nathan] handled the pacing early, it was fairly aggressive and he was just competing the whole way,” Thatcher said.
Thatcher also talked about how well Kuck’s work ethic is paying off. “Getting that last guy by just a tenth of a second, finishing seventh at this meet, we feel good about his health, he’s worked really hard,” Thatcher said.
BG’s next meet will be its first and last home meet of the season in the annual Mel Brodt Collegiate Invitational. It will take place next on Sept. 12.
