BOISE STATE PRESS RELEASE
Bates Earns Pre-National Title, Broncos Place Eighth and 11th
Emma Bates’ exciting finish earns her the meet title
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Boise State junior Emma Bates captured the prestigious 2013 ISU Pre-National Invitational women’s 6-kilometer blue race title, Saturday morning, leading the Bronco women to an 11th-place finish (443-points). The No. 19-ranked Bronco men totaled 313-points, capturing an eighth-place finish at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Family Sports Complex in Terre Haute, Ind.
Bates led the women’s race at the 4-kilometer mark with a handful of competitors hot on her heels. After dropping to third in the final stretch of the race the Elk River, Minn., was able to close at the finish, passing Aisling Cuffe of Stanford, who had just taken the lead from Florida State’s Hannah Walker.
Bates won the 339-runner race in 20:09.09 while Cuffe finished in 20:10.70. Boise State’s Marisa Howard was the second across the line for the Broncos, placing 47th in 20:59.90. Lauren Lucas earned a 121st-place finish (21:38.09), while Erin McLaughlin tied for 127th (21:39.44) and Taryn Treadway placed 146th (21:47.24) to finish out the scoring Broncos. Kate Jette (202nd; 22:05.29) and Shannon Susbauer (249th; 22:23.79) rounded out the racing Broncos.
The Bronco men were led by Aaron Back who placed 47th out of 359 runners. Back clocked a time of 24:10.51 on the 8-kilometer course, while Allan Schroeder wasn’t far behind with 24:16.29 to place 56th. David Elliott clocked a time of 24:18.21 to place 61st followed by Jeff Howard in 68th (24:23.41). Zach Wiles rounded out the scoring Broncos, placing 81st in 24:28.64, while Drew O’donoghue-McDonald (119th; 24:45.69) and Kyle Merritt (279th; 25:43.71) were the final runners for the Broncos.
Texas Tech’s Kennedy Kithuka won the men’s 8-kilometer title in 22:52.78. No. 2-ranked Colorado captured the men’s title with 90-points, while No. 4 Oregon placed second (113-points) and No. 18 Iona placed third (126-points) in the 52-team race.
No. 5-ranked Georgetown won the women’s 6-kilometer blue race team title scoring 117-points. No. 2 Florida State was second in the 49-team race, earning 162-points, while No. 20 Butler placed third (176-points).
The Broncos’ next competition will take place Nov. 1 at the 2013 Mountain West Cross Country Championships hosted by the Air Force Academy.
