Falcons Gunning for Top-Flight Finish at MAC Championship

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's cross country team will take the trek down to Athens, Ohio for the culmination of its season Saturday when the Falcons take on 11 other Mid-American Conference opponents in the MAC Championship set to begin at noon on the campus of Ohio University.

 

The Falcons will leave Friday morning to prepare for the 6K meet.

 

The women finished in fifth place last year and Coach Cami Wells thinks the team can better last seasons finish on Saturday. The disappointing finish is still a vivid memory for the team and has served as motivation this season.

 

“The goal is to improve upon our 5th place finish last year, ideally we would like to finish in the top 3,” Wells said. “They all know that in order to finish well at the MAC meet you have to be at your best that day and you have to fight for it every step.“ 

 

The Falcons are coming off of their best performance of the season nearly two weeks ago in the Falcon Invite when they won the team title and placed six runners in the top 20.  

 

“Kent State is a much improved team this year and they beat us by a decent margin in September at Iona so to have the chance to race them again at the Falcon Invite and come away with a win over them was a good accomplishment for the team and it showed that we are ready to contend with the top teams in the conference and battle it out,” Wells said. “Relaxation is something we really are working on this week, to stay loose and positive.”

 

With several runners who have stepped up in each meet this season, relaxation should not be an issue. A different runner has won each race for the Falcons.

 

“I knew that we would have a team that was very close in ability this year, we have a very strong core of runners who are all very capable of leading the team as needed,” Wells said. “I have never in my coaching career had a team where we had a different front runner every meet until this season.”  

 

“I couldn't be happier that we have had so many people step up and lead from week to week. It really shows how hard they work together and that it is always a team effort. They don't have any preconceived notions in their heads about where they should or shouldn't be on the team, they just know that to be the best team they can be, they have to work together and give their best effort every time and that their teammates will back them up each week.“

 

Seniors Andrea Pereira de Almeida and Carly Wells are expected to race for the Falcons. They will race alongside juniors Heather Conger, Autumn Dettmann, Ashley Fischer, Sally Kandie, Megan Kelsey, Barbara Powers and freshman Abby Koch.