Led again by freshman Sarah Kehe, the Cardinals continued to roll heading in the Mid-American Conference championships.
The Ball State University women's cross country team was looking to take a step forward this weekend, but actually took a large leap in finishing second at the Bowling Green State University Falcon Invitational.
The Cardinals were led by Kehe who finished fifth overall with a time of 18:06.51.
"[Kehe] really stood out and did an excellent job for us today," coach Todd Lane said. "She stayed up with the top group the whole race and with the other [MAC] runners, which is good news."
Along with Kehe, senior Rose Lehe had her own breakout race of the year after months of nagging injuries and placing 18th overall (18:44). Ali Bishel also placed 22nd with a time of 18:55. Kelsey Nielson (24th, 19:01) and Vanessa Gilbert (31st, 19:12) added contributions with strong races to push the Cardinals to the runner-up finish.
The University of Akron took the overall win of the Falcon Invitational with a score of 67. Ball State followed with a score of 100 and IPFW finished in third place with 102.
Fellow MAC counterparts Kent State University and Eastern Michigan University finished sixth and seventh respectively.
For the Cardinals, though, focus now switches towards the MAC Cross Country Championships, beginning Oct. 28 in Buffalo, N.Y. Lane said he sees a lot of potential for a tremendous outcome at the conference championship.
"With Kelsey [Nielson], Gilbert and others are really coming along and standing out. They could really help us in a couple of weeks," Lane said. "[Nielson and Gilber] placed fourth and fifth for us today, and we look like we could have a big breakthrough just like that, because we're a very consistent team right now and that's a very good thing."
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