The Bowling Green Falcons men’s and women’s cross country teams will travel to Akron this weekend to compete in the 54th Annual Tommy Evans Invitational.
The team will see familiar MAC opponents as well as some out of conference opponents from various parts of the midwest region.
The 2023 Akron Invite (Evans Invitational) on Friday will be held at the Silver Creek Cross Country Trails in Norton, Ohio. The womens’ squad, running a five kilometer race, will take off at 6:15 p.m. with the mens’ side, running a 6K, starting at 6:45 p.m.
The meet will see 15 teams competing for both Men’s and Women’s which include a handful of MAC rivals such as Kent State, Toledo, Ohio, and Akron.
“It’s a lot about the process for this first meet for leading up to the race and turning on that competitive switch” said 12th year BGSU coach Lou Snelling.
With the presence of other MAC schools, Snelling said “It’s great to see MAC schools early in the season, we want to come in to this early moment and compete with the MAC schools with our newcomers”.
Four seniors make up the BGSU mens’ squad including Heriberto Alvarez, Christian Gagliardi, AJ Haffa, and Mike Worboy. The Falcons will also roster two juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen.
The womens’ squad, which enter the season ranked 14th in the region, will field five seniors including two-time All-Conference runners in Katerina Shuble and Kailee Perry as well as other senior talent in Elise Johnson, Kristin Groppe, and Olivia Collett. The team will roster two juniors, five sophomores, and four freshmen as well.
The mens’ squad will look to compete for their first MAC title since 1995 and women will be seeking their first title since 1998 when the 2023 MAC Cross Country Championships will take place at Bowling Green on October 28th.
In addition to the four MAC opponents that the Falcons will face in Akron, the squad will also see other out of conference and out of division opponents including Youngstown State, of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Division II opponents that will compete this weekend will be Lake Erie College, Malone University, and Walsh University. D-III opponents that will field teams against the Falcons consist of John Carroll University, University of Mount Union, Wittenberg University, Baldwin Wallace University, Otterbein University, and Case Western Reserve University.
