Falcons Expect Successful Race at The Iona Meet of Champions

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Coming off of a second place finish in the Mel Brodt Invitational last Saturday, the Bowling Green women's cross country team will head off to the Bronx, New York for the Iona Meet of Champions, which is set for 9:30 a.m. this Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park.

The 6K race will feature several of the top teams in the nation and will provide a big test for the Falcons.

Some of the more notable teams include: Wisconsin (15th in the nation in Division I), Harvard (7th in the Northeast region), Yale (12th in the Northeast region), Rutgers (13th in the Mid-Atlantic Region), Cincinnati (14th in the Great Lakes region), Malone University (5th in the nation in NAIA), Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (15th in Division II) and fellow Mid-American Conference member Kent State.

“We are looking forward to racing in a large meet with quality competition,” head coach Cami Wells said. “I expect that the team will respond well to the challenge.”

With all of the tough competition, Wells hopes the team will put forth a strong performance.

“Our team goal is always to have every runner give the best they have to give that day,” Wells said. “We have our sights set on a top five finish; we want to compete well against Kent State and Cincinnati.”

Bowling Green is coming off of a strong outing on Saturday as the Falcons were the runner-up with a score of 69. Part of the reason is the execution of strong pack running as the Falcons have a number of runners who can step up on any given day.

“We have a strong pack of runners any of which are capable of being our top runner on any given day,” Wells said. “We have been working to have a strong, tight team not only in practice and at meets but outside practice as well.”

“I expect that we will continue to have a strong pack of runners working together this weekend and expect that will put us in a position to place well in the team standings.”

Freshman Abby Koch was the Falcons top finisher last weekend as she came in eighth place with a time of 18:45. Five other runners were top 25 finishers for the Falcons.

The team will welcome back two runners as Barbara Powers and Heather Conger will run this weekend after both sat out with injuries a week ago.

Joining them will be Autumn Dettmann, Ashley Fischer, Mindy Henry, Sally Kandie, Megan Kelsey, Koch, Andrea Pereira de Almeida and Carly Wells.