Boise State Athletics
Boise State
2012 Pre-National Invitational
Broncos Successful at Pre-National Invitational
10/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Boise State men's and women's cross country teams were very successful against their toughest competition of the season on Saturday (Oct. 13) at the 2012 Pre-National Invitational hosted by the University of Louisville. The Boise State men's team captured a 13th-place team finish out of a 40-team race, while the women placed 14th out of 38 teams.
Boise State's men earned 399-points en route to their 13 th-place finish in a tough field of teams in the "Men's Red" seeded 8-kilometer race. The Bronco men took on seven top-30 nationally ranked teams, upsetting No. 23 William and Mary who placed 14th with 434-points.
Boise State's women earned 477-points in their 14 th-place finish, also competing against seven nationally ranked teams in the "Women's Red" seeded 6-kilometer race. Butler placed 11th with 325-points as the Broncos' closest nationally ranked competitor in the race.
The Bronco men were led senior transfer Barak Watson who placed 43 rd out of 271 runners. Watson clocked a time of 23:59.1 on the 8-kilometer course at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. Crossing the finish second for the Broncos was junior Drew O'donoghue-McDonald who clocked a time of 24:06.4 to place 58th. Junior Allan Schroeder and redshirt junior Jeff Howard finished together at 90th (24:23.4) and 91st (24:24.2), respectively, while sophomore David Elliott was the final scoring Bronco with a 117th-place finish (24:37.1). Sophomore Aaron Back picked up a 131st-place finish (24:42.4) and junior Zach Wiles finished in 158th (24:56.0) rounding out the Bronco racers.
Boise State's women were led by junior Tessa Murray on the 6-kilometer course, running 21:07.7 to place 57 th out of 264 runners. Redshirt sophomore Marisa VanderMalle finished three spots behind in 21:09.3 (60th). Running as a team, the final three scorers for Boise State's women finished close together beginning with junior Kate Jette in 118th-place (21:44.8). Junior Sarah Bisterfeldt was two spots behind in 120th (21:45.3), while two runners later junior Erin McLaughlin crossed the finish in 122nd (21:45.5). Junior Lauren Lucas wasn't far behind, clocking a time of 21:58.0 to place 151st, while junior Taryn Treadway placed 173rd in 22:11.1.
The University of Colorado won the team title after collecting 72-points, while UTEP freshman Anthony Rotich won the individual title in 23:01.0. Fellow Mountain West member, Air Force, was the only other conference opponent at the meet, placing 17 th in the men's race with 475-points.
Wichita State senior Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton won the women's race in 19:43.9, while top ranked Florida State won the women's team race with 72-points. Again the Falcons were the only other conference representative, placing 18 th in the women's race with 546-points.
The 2012 Pre-National Invitational was Boise State's final regular-season competition. The Broncos will prep for the 2012 Mountain West Championships on Fri., Oct. 26 in Las Vegas, Nev.
