Cross Country

MAC Cross Country Week 4 Recap

Bowling Green
 
Four runners competed for the Bowling Green men's cross country team day at The Prairies Golf Club in Kalamazoo at the George Dales Invitational, and three earned PRs. Micah Bentley led the way for the Falcons with a time of 25:49.2, which earned him 20th place and a PR. Luke Woolard followed in 27th with a mark of 26:20.7 – which was also a PR – while Ben Myers (33rd, 27:17.7) and Bryce Weber (34th, 27:30.3, PR) rounded out the BG runners. The Bowling Green women's cross country team also competed at the George Dales Invitational. Four runners collected PR's which propelled the Falcons to their first win since last year's Falcon Invitational. It also marked their first win in a 6K race not held at Bowling Green's Mel Brodt Cross Country Course in at least 10 years. Kylee Cubbison led the way with a fourth-place finish and PR with a time of 20:57.0. Regina Rose followed her in fifth with a mark of 21:02.3 – also a PR. Making her collegiate debut, Rachael Hoover placed 10th (21:28.0) while Madison Foster (11th, 21:30.2), Rachael Withrow (12th, 21:34.2, PR) and Reese Reaman (14th, 21:35.6) rounded out the top 15. Emma Hellwege set a new PR with a time of 22:07.0, good for 27th. Amelia Barilla also made her collegiate debut and placed 40th (22.33.3), while Nora Ritting (47th, 23:02.0) rounded out the competitors for the Falcons.


Eastern Michigan 
 
The Eastern Michigan University cross country programs traveled west to the George Dales Invitational, hosted by Western Michigan University at Prairies Golf Club in Kalamazoo, Mich., with the men placing first in 8k (35 points) and the women finishing third in the 6k (69 points). The men's first-place finish marks the first time they have notched consecutive meet wins since the Covid adjusted 2020 season. In the women's 6k, the Eagles had two runners place in the top 10 including the winner of the race, Marta Moreno cruised to a first-place finish in a personal-best, 20:14.5, finishing 17 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Anita Zaro came in ninth place, finishing in 21:27.8. The women had five runners score in the race. Along with Moreno and Zaro came Lucy Jones, Anna Bathellier, Liv Hatch, Chloie Mutsa, and Cora Henderson who had finishes of 15, 21, 23, 29 and 34, respectively. The team finished with 69 points, good for a third-place finish.  The Eagles had a total of four athletes break 22 minutes in the women's 6k, while 13 of them set a career-best mark. Four athletes from Eastern Michigan came in the top 10 in the men's 8k, led by Sam Peterson, who covered the 4.9-mile course in 24:23, finishing second. The other three in the top 10 were Ronan Codyre, Ty Dailey, and Lachlan Cornelius who had times of 24:45.5 (fourth), 24:54.2 (fifth) and 25:09.4 (ninth), respectively. Six athletes broke 26 minutes in the men's 8k, while six male harriers also secured a personal-best time. 
 
Western Michigan 
 
The Western Michigan cross country team had six runners finish in the top 25 at the George Dales Invite on Friday morning at the Prairies Golf Club. As a team, the Broncos were able to finish fourth. Leading the pack for WMU was Lillian Zelasko, who made her season debut. She finished sixth with a time of 21:07.0. Lara Machado Pereira was the next runner to cross the finish line for the Brown and Gold. She finished 16th with a time of 21:40.4.
Brooke Soper wasn't too far behind her, as she finished the race in 18th place. She recorded a time of 21:48.4. Grace Aurand was right behind Soper, as she notched a 19th-place finish in the race. Her time was 21:51.2. The last scoring runner for the Broncos was Lily Overton, who placed 24th with a time of 21:54.5. Delaney Knoll was also strong in the race, as she posted a 25th-place finish. She earned a time of 21:58.8. Lauren Sancrant grabbed 31st place with a time of 22:14.2. 
 
 
Central Michigan
 
It's been almost a month since Central Michigan Cross Country has last raced, with schedule adjustments keeping the Chippewas from competition for a few weeks out of the 2024 season. From the way the Chippewas performed at the George Dales Invite in Kalamazoo on Friday morning, it has not held them back in the slightest. Natalie Newcombe continued to make strides in her fifth and final season, running the third-fastest all time 6k in CMU Women's Cross Country history, two more Chippewa runners ran top 20 all-time speeds, and in total, 16 CMU runners made personal-best time. Newcombe crossed the finish line for the women's 6k in second with a time of 20:31.4. Following her were Jessie Gibbins, who ran a personal-best time of 21:14.0, and Kate Jenkins, who ran a personal-best 21:34.6. Gibbins and Jenkins finished 7th and 13th in the race, respectively, and ran the 12th and 18th-fastest women's 6ks in CMU history. For the CMU men, Blake Chipman led the way, finishing 6th in the 8k with a personal-best time of 24:55.7. He was followed by Ethan Leitner, who was 8th, and Nick Cockerel in 10th. Chipman, Leitner and Cockerel all ran personal-bests, alongside Jason Fredricks, Aiden Smith, Hong Bing Tang and Carson White. Fredricks finished 11th, White 12th, Greg Janesak 14th, Clay Kuiper 16th and Aiden Smith 19th in a 38-runner field.
 
 
Buffalo 
 
The University at Buffalo cross country team competed in the University of Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational on Saturday morning. The men placed second of the 20 teams in attendance, having a strong showing in the 8k race. 
Junior Ty Fluharty headlined the Bulls on the men's side, finishing sixth overall with a time of 26:10.5. Senior Cory Demo earned a top-15 finish, taking 11th with a time of 26:25.4. Gabe Watson was the third Buffalo runner to place inside the top-20, finishing 19th (26:42.0). Freshmen Aidan Norris (23rd, 26.57.5) and Hayden Parks (37th, 27:20.4) completed their 8k collegiate debuts by finishing inside the top-50 runners. On the women's side the Bulls did not place as a team, only having four runners finish the 6k race due to injury. Freshman Samantha Moury was the first to finish for the Bulls, ending her collegiate 6k debut in 51st with a time of 24:36.4. Freshman Averianna Altieri was the next Buffalo finisher, taking 66th in her collegiate debut with the Bulls (24:59.2). Freshmen Sophie Brettholtz (110th, 25:52.2.) and Meghana Reddy (130th, 26:16.3) rounded out Buffalo's runners in their collegiate 6k debuts.
 
Miami
 
The Redhawk cross country teams traveled to Indiana State University this weekend to run in the John McNichols Invitational. The men ran the 8k and finished in first place with 32 points, while the women ran the 6k and finished in third place with 79 points. Mhalicki Bronson led the Miami men by finishing in first place overall as the RedHawks swept the top three spots in that race. Patrick Wills (24:48.0) and Chris Perkins (24:50.4) were right behind Bronson, claiming second and third place, respectively. Petros Sanchez Ropero came in 11th with a time of 25:15.3. Victor Orsinelli finished in 19th place with a time of 25:35.0. For the women, Annie Christie led Miami by coming in third place with a time of 21:06.1. Ava Nuttall finished 16th with a time of 21:53.1. Linda Conchetto (22:31.5) and Ella Daddario (22:37.8) finished in 25th and 26th place, respectively. Cara Razavi finished in 38th place with a time of 23:12.8 seconds.  
 
Ohio
 
The Ohio men's and women's cross country programs competed at the Roy Griak Invitational. The women's team placed fifth overall in the gold 6k race, beating Ohio State who ranks fifth in the Great Lakes Region. The men's team placed 16th overall in the gold 8k race. Junior Leila Boussedra led the women's team with a 13thplace finish (22:03.1). Senior Kelsi Harris crossed the finish line closely behind, placing 18th with a time of 22:08.5. Junior Allie Martin finished in 26th place with a time of 22:26.3. Freshman Kaitlyn Stewart rounded out the top 50 with a time of 22:42.1, finishing 39th overall. Two other Bobcats finished in the top 100 of the women's race. Junior Alyssa Mason finished 74th (23:13.8) and sophomore Eliza Streit finished 83rd (23:26.3). Sophomore Andrew Bracken led the men's team with a 55th place finish and time of 26:06.0. Sophomore Charlie Slates was the second Bobcat to cross the finish line, finishing 74th overall with a time of 26:27.7. Junior Franklin Angelos rounded out the top 100 for Ohio with a time of 26:42.2, finishing 97th overall.