Ball State // Butler Twilight
True freshman Juliana Stogsdill led the Ball State cross country team Friday evening in the Cardinals' season-opening event at the Butler Twilight tri-meet.
 
Stogsdill, a Plainfield, Illinois, product, ran the 5K in a time of 18:32.8 to finish sixth individually and pace Ball State to a second-place finish. She was one of two rookies to score for the Cardinals. Vivian Van Eck(18:59.2) finished 14th as the team's fifth scorer.
 
The host Butler Bulldogs won the event at Northview Church with 28 points after taking the top two positions and three of the top five. Butler's Emily Royston led all runners across the finish line in a time of 17:20.6, more than 20 seconds clear of her runner-up teammate Angelina Ellis.
 
Ball State was second in the team standings with 45 points, while IUPUI was third with 56.

Senior Maritza Rodriguez (18:37.3) and junior Cayla Eckenroth (18:38.8) were right on Stogsdill's heels for BSU, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Sophomore Karleigh Conner ran a time of 18:45.9 to give the Cardinals four of the top 10 finishers.
 
Sophomore Emma Cunningham finished just outside the scoring positions but clocked in a personal-best time of 19:08.2.
 
In addition to the debut performances from Stogsdill and Van Eck, true freshman Grace Dean and redshirt freshman Meghan Hedrick also made their first appearances for Ball State.
 
The Cardinals will return to action Friday, Sept. 6 with the IWU Twilight Classic hosted by Indiana Wesleyan in Marion. The action begins at 6 p.m.

Bowling Green // Mel Brodt Open
Men's Results | Women's Results
The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams opened their respective seasons on Friday (Aug. 30) evening at the 32nd annual Mel Brodt Invitational. The men's team earned a second place team score, while the women's team earned a team score of third place.
 
Men's 5k Event

The men's 5k event saw 43 participants in total from Bowling Green, Buffalo, Purdue Fort Wayne and Toledo.  The Buffalo Bulls took the top spot in the race with a team score of 25, with the Falcons right behind them at second place with a team score of 57. Bowling Green's finish was enough to best Toledo who took third in team scoring at 61. Purdue Fort Wayne would come in fourth with a score of 67.

Individual Performances 
Freshman AJ Haffa would lead the way for the Falcons finishing first for Bowling Green, and seventh overall in his first collegiate race. Haffa finished the 5k in with a time of 15:57.0.
Finishing second for the Falcons was fellow freshman Vince Manning, who captured ninth overall out of the field. Manning who was also competing in his first collegiate race finishing the 5k event with a time of 16:08.1.
Coming in third place for the Orange and Brown was sophomore Abel Nijakowski, finishing 11th overall traversing the BGXC Course in 16:17.4. Just short of his result from a season ago that saw him capture 10th place in in the men's 5k at 15:58.9.
Freshman Joseph Johnson III would come in fourth for the Falcons, finishing 19th overall with a time of 16:37.9. Redshirt junior Raymond Berling was close behind finishing fifth for BGSU and 23rd overall with a time of 16:46.9.
 
Women's 5k Event

The women's 5k event saw 36 participants in total featuring Bowling Green, Buffalo, Purdue Fort Wayne and Toledo with a number of unattached runners. Buffalo would take the top spot in the women's race with a team score of 29, with Toledo getting second place at 32. Bowling Green would grab a third place finish earning a team score of 64. PFW would come in fourth place with a score of 102.
 
Individual Performances 
In her first race with the Bowling Green Falcons, redshirt freshman Sydnie Firment would finish first for her squad earning 10th place overall. Firment crossed the finish line at 18:58.3.
Close behind Firment, in 13th place was redshirt junior Allison Holahan. She would finish second for the Falcons completing with a time of 19:05.7 earning a new personal best for a 5k race. She had previously ran the race in 19:22.3 at the 2017 Mel Brodt Invitational, that saw her finish 15th in the race.
Redshirt sophomores Allie Zofkie and Megan Aalberts would finish third and fourth for Bowling Green, taking places 19 and 20 respectively. Zofkie would improve on her personal best from last season's Mel Brodt trimming off nearly a full eight seconds as she completed the race with a time of 19:27.6. Last year she came in 23rd with a time of 19:35.5. Junior Claire Reynolds would finish fifth for the Falcons, coming in 26th overall at with a time of 19:58.2.
Bowling Green also had a number of participants running the race unattached including Sydney Neikamp, Olivia Collett, Kailee Perry, Elise Johnson, Libbie Gleason and Trinity Fowler.

Buffalo // Mel Brodt Open 
Men's Results | Women's Results
 The University at Buffalo men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Bowling Green, OH for the Mel Brodt Collegiate Opener. Both squads took first place as they competed in 5k races.

In the men's race, the Bulls stampeded their way to victory as they swept the top-three positions and had four runners in the top-10. Leading the way for the Bulls was senior William Hilbert with a time of 15:46.3. Right behind him for the photo-finish was Cal Puskar (second place - 15:46.3) and Scott Loforte (third place - 15:50.6). Finishing in sixth place with a time of 15:57.5 was junior Patrick Hazlitt. Senior Leon Atkins placed 13th with a time of 16:33.6 as Matthew Mercer was right behind and crossed the line 22nd with a time of 16:47.8.

"The men executed their race well," said men's coach Todd Witzleben. "They went to the front and controlled the race and pulled away in the last mile."

In the women's race, the Bulls also stampeded their way to a victorious race as they had four runners finish in the top-10. To lead the charge was freshman Alexia Hecico, who finished in first place with a time of 18:35.8. Finishing in third was Maxine Dupuis with a time of 18:42.2. Dana Lynch crossed the finish line for sixth place in 18:58.2. On her heels were her two teammates, Meghan LaTuso and Riley Jones. LaTuso finished in 19:00.7 for eighth place as Jones placed 11th in 19:07.1. Also finishing the race were juniors Alanna Kramer and Marlee Shaffer.

 "The three freshmen ran well in their first collegiate race," said head coach Vicki Mitchell. "Senior Meghan LaTuso had an excellent race and brought the team through with Riley Jones rounding the top-five."

The Bulls will have a week off as their next race is Friday, September 13 at 11:00 a.m. as they host the UB Stampede Invite.

Central Michigan // Drenth Memorial
Emily Shelton and Maddy Boyd joined Mark Beckmann and Adam Rzentkowski in leading the Central Michigan cross country team on Friday during the Chippewas' annual Jeff Drenth Memorial 5K at Pleasant Hills Golf Club.
 
Shelton, Boyd and Rzentkowski are freshman, while Beckmann is a senior.
 
"The biggest thing for us is to see how the freshmen are going to respond to a race situation that's a little different than what they had in high school," CMU coach Jennifer Swieton said "Everybody, from all the teams, are probably pretty tired right now, but to see how they're handling the training and the fatigue, it's like rip the Band-Aid off, get the first meet out of the way, and then we can move forward and know where to go from here."
 
Shelton placed fourth in 18 minutes, 4.54 seconds in the women's race, while Boyd was fifth in 18:05.18. Also for the Chippewa women, Natalie Beaulieu placed 12th (18:42.15), Lauren Beckmann was 13th (18:57.02), and Carissa Gobbi was 15th (19:07.07).
 
Makayla Perez of Michigan State won the women's race in 17:34.73. Josh Smith of MSU won the men's race in 15:08.54, while Beckmann was third (15:19.42) and Rzentkowski was fourth (15:20.20).
 
"We had some really great performance by our freshmen, which is super awesome," Swieton said. "A lot of PRs, and to come in as a freshman in your first college race and run a PR is very hard to do because of expectations and pressure.
 
"The upperclassmen kind of know the ropes and how the season progresses and how the big stuff happens in October. For the freshmen, I think when you're in high school it's a little bit different approach to the season. So I think they're nervous, if we're being honest, but they handled it very, very well today and I know nobody is maxed out already. There's room to grow for all of them."
 
CMU freshmen Jakob Sayers (15:29.30) and Zachary Sleeman (15:33.38) finished 10th and 11th, respectively, in the men's race, while junior Riad Rababeh was 12th in 15:34.72.
 
"Our returners came and took care of business too," Swieton said. "I think they did what they needed to in the summer in order to be prepared for the season, and I think that they're more confident than they've been in the past, and that's super important. We definitely, on the men's and women's side, have progress that needs to be made. I think we're at a very good starting point particularly for how young our teams are."

Eastern Michigan Men // Michigan Invitational
The Eastern Michigan University men's cross country team opened the 2019 campaign Friday morning, Aug. 30, at the Michigan Open, hosted by the University of Michigan. The Eagles had three runners finish in the top-25.

"Following a good week of training at camp including lots of hilly, sandy, muddy trails and sand dunes we concluded the week with a solid 5k race effort versus a talented Michigan team," said head coach John Goodridge. "We were positioned well for 3,000 meters but struggled the last 2,000 meters. Overall I see a lot for us to build on."

Sophomore Andy Payne (Worthington, Ohio-Thomas Worthington) paced the Eagles, finishing the 5k course in 15:22.3 for 17th place. Not far behind, Eddie Zuercher (Rocky River, Ohio-Rocky River) crossed the finish line with a time of 15:27.6 and earned 20th place.

Rounding out top-25 finishers, Baldvin Magnusson (Hull, England-Hull University) took 25th place with a 15:43.7 mark.

Next up, Eastern Michigan will head to Terre Haute, Ind. to take part in the Indiana State McNichols Open Sept. 21.

Kent State // Pitt Panther Open
Both the Kent State men's and women's cross country teams opened their seasons with third place finishes at the Pitt Panther Opener.

Maddie Dunlap paced the women, finishing in fourth place with a time of 14:23.8. Dunlap has led the Golden Flashes in their last six races. On the men's side, Clark Bookman finished in fifth place with a time of 18:00.0.

The women placed five runners in the top 17. In addition to Dunlap, Nicole Fleming earned a top-10 finish, placing in sixth (14:35.9). Sarah Pack finished in 13th place (14:55.8), Leah Lisle grabbed a 16th-place finish (14:59.0) and Nicole DiCicco earned a 17th-place finish (15:03.2) in her collegiate debut.

Three runners including Bookman on the men's team finished in the top 10. Drew Johnson finished in eighth place (18:19.6) and Alex Stamper recorded a 10th-place finish (18:28.8).

Miami // RedHawk Opener
The Miami RedHawks kicked off their 2019 cross country season with the Miami Opener on Friday, getting right into the swing of things with a competitive four-team field that included Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio State.

The men's race went first and saw the RedHawks finish in fourth, but after a lengthy weather delay the Miami women put on a very impressive display to finish runners-up in the meet behind nationally ranked Ohio State.

Emma Bryant put together the highest finish of any RedHawk on the day, as she claimed fifth place in the women's race with a 21:58.5 time on the 6K course. Less than two seconds after her, senior Claire Linn crossed the line with her own impressive time of 22 minutes flat. Those two were joined in the top ten of the women's race by senior Carly Davis with a 22:03.0 mark.

Three more 'Hawks turned in top-15 showings in the women's race: sophomore McKenna Fry cross the line in 22:19.6, while Emily Akin and Hailey Lowe had impressive Miami debuts as they ran times of 22:19.9 and 22:25.5 respectively.

Over on the men's side, redshirt freshman Alex Tam was Miami's highest finisher as he crossed in 17th, running a 26:25.3 over the 8K distance. Jake Bertelsen was the only other Miami runner to finish in the top 25. On a team level, 15th-ranked Indiana ran away with the meet, as the Hoosiers put six runners in the top ten.

While not running for Miami officially, David Coffey (8th, 26:09.4) and freshman Obsaa Feda (10th, 26:11.6) each got in solid runs.

Northern Illinois // WIU Early Bird
Junior Ashley Tutt (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) won the individual title and the Northern Illinois University cross country team claimed the team crown at the Western Illinois Early Bird Invite on Friday evening at Spring Lake Park. 

Tutt set a new four-kilometer course record with a time of 14:10.5 while second-place finisher Mackenzie Callahan (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) and third-place finisher Ericka Hibser(Lewistown, Ill./Lewistown) also broke the previous mark of 14:23.4 set by Kristen Garwood of Hannibal-Lagrange in 2015. Callahan's second-place time was 14:20.8 while Hibser crossed the line with a time of 14:21.8 to take third. 

NIU scored 16 points to easily earn the team title over Bradley who finished in second with 54 points. 

"I was very pleased with our efforts today," said NIU cross country head coach Adrian Myers. "The women executed our plan to race well within ourselves and walk away with a strong team, pack performance. We want to be physically read to race at home next weekend in the Huskie Challenge. 

"Our top four looked very strong tonight and I cannot wait to see what they are capable of in November. If we can continue to push that group ahead, they are very hard to separate in competition. Freshmen Kaitlin Miller and Brooke Lytle keep progressing week after week and we expect big jumps by them in October. I am very pleased with their maturity and attention to doing the little things and expect to see constant improvement. 

"Ashley Tutt redshirted last track season and she has really looked fantastic these last couple weeks of training. She picked up the win and a new course record tonight, that's a fun way to start the season."

Along with Tutt, Callahan and Hibser, senior Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) completed a Huskie sweep of the top-four spots with a finishing time of 14:26.3. 

Ohio // Queen City Invite
Ohio cross country heads back to Athens after both the men's and women's team finish fourth at the Queen City Invite.

The Bobcat women completed the race with a total of 98 points. Ohio had scorers finish in the top 20 runners, led by redshirt senior Madison Sury (Waterford, Ohio) who clocked a 18:07.4 and finished eighth in today's 5K race. Junior Hailey Bowes (Arlington Heights, Ill.) finished with a 18:12.5 and placed 10th, while senior Melissa Koziol (Burton, Ohio) ran a 18:31.8 and placed 19th.

The men's team also finished with 98 points, winning the tie-breaker against Xavier. Ohio's Josh Park finished second in the 5K race, recording a time of 15:02.0 (Amherst, Ohio). Also finishing in the top 20 for the Bobcats were senior Parker Sistrunk(Belpre, Ohio) with a time of 15:29.1 and senior Eric McKean (Pataskala, Ohio), notching a 15:44.1.