Falcons Take Second At Mel Brodt Collegiate Opener - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Courtesy: BGSU Sports Information

Falcons Take Second At Mel Brodt Collegiate Opener

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13abc.com Steve Slivka - email

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio. – The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams each placed second in the Mel Brodt Collegiate Opener Friday night (Aug. 31), kicking off a successful beginning to the 2012 campaign.

The men finished with an average time of 17:20.28, earning a total team score of 52 points. The finish put the Falcons in second place, edging out Madonna's 18:50.18 average time, and 76 total team points. Toledo earned the first place finish with a 16:12.36 average time, and 15 total team points.

Freshman Tim Jurick led the men with a ninth place finish, completing the 5000-meter race in 16:46.50. Junior Joe van Bolderon (17:17.20) and freshman Brian Coleman (17:21.00) followed Jurick with a top 20 finish, earning 13th and 14th place, respectively. Sophomore Tom Hipwell and junior Perry Fraylick rounded out the top five Bowling Green finishers.

Van Bolderon's finish time marked a new personal best, eclipsing his previous 5K mark of 18:29, set at the Toledo Opener last season. The race marked the first collegiate action for Jurick and Coleman.

The women finished with an average time of 19:39.30, and a team score of 71. Bowling Green edged out Eastern Michigan, Ball State and Madonna University for the second place finish. Toledo, the reigning Mid-American Conference champion, placed first with an average time of 18:28.58 and 19 total team points.

Redshirt junior Abby Koch paced the Orange and Brown with a seventh place finish, completing the course in 18:58.00. Koch won the last Mel Brodt Open in 2010.

Redshirt freshman Andrea Alt earned a tenth place finish with a time of 19:14.90, while sophomore transfer Kendra Kezur (19:20.90) followed closely with a 16th place finish.  Redshirt freshmen Jasmine Redman (19:55.20) and Megan Monte (20:46.50) rounded out the Falcons top five, earning 23rd and 36th place, respectively.

Bowling Green's next competition occurs on Saturday, Sept. 15th in Buffalo, N.Y., at the Buffalo Stampede Invitational.