Cross Country Places Fifth At Sam Bell Invitational

Saturday, October 17

Bloomington, Ind.

11 a.m.

Ball State University

Sam Bell Invitational

Cross Country Places Fifth At Sam Bell Invitational

October 17, 2009 | Cross Country

By: Ball State Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - Despite a fifth-place showing from redshirt junior Ali Bishel (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.), the Ball State cross country team placed fifth out of five teams at Saturday's Sam Bell Invitational hosted by Indiana.

Bishel, who placed sixth overall and fifth among scored runners, finished the team's first 6K event of the season with a time of 22:10.20. Indiana's Wendi Robinson won the meet in 21:41.61, while her teammate Sarah Pease finished second in 21:44.21.

The host Hoosiers won the meet with 31 total points behind the top two finishers. Purdue, whose top runners finished third and fourth, placed second with a score of 37. Rounding out the field were the University of Houston (88 points), IPFW (111) and BSU (115).

Senior Sarah Kehe (Westville, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) was BSU's second-best runner, scoring in 20th place (23rd overall) with a time of 23:24.42. Redshirt freshman Christine Talhelm (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central H.S.) was the Cardinals No. 3 runner, finishing the course in 24:36.05 to place 39th overall and 27th among scored runners.

Rounding out Ball State's scorers were senior Lisa Arrowsmith (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson H.S.) and freshman MaryKate Mellen (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City H.S.), with times of 25:08.19 (31st; 49th overall) and 25:21.76 (32nd; 44th overall), respectively.

Also competing in the meet for the Cardinals were freshman Emilee Zets (Berlin Center, Ohio/West Branch H.S.) in 26:07.70 (47th); freshman Andrea Korzan (Mishawaka, Ind./Penn H.S.) in 26:22.83 (48th) and sophomore Kayla Eiler (Fortville, Ind./Mt. Vernon H.S) in 28:41.17 (53rd).

The Ball State cross country team returns Saturday, Oct. 31, when it heads back to Athens, Ohio, for the 2009 Mid-American Conference Championships.

MEET PREVIEW

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State cross country team will run in its first 6K competition of the year Saturday at 11 a.m. when it travels to Bloomington, Ind. for the Sam Bell Invitational hosted by Indiana, the same site of the 2009 NCAA Great Lakes Regional.

The Cardinals first 6K meet of the season was supposed to be the Ohio University Invitational, Sept. 26, but was switched to a 3K course due to poor weather conditions.

BSU's best time of the season came through a career-best and victorious effort (17:28) at the Indiana Intercollegiates (Sept. 18) from senior Ali Bishel (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.), who has led the Cardinals in each meet she has competed in this season.

Senior Sarah Kehe (Westville, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) led BSU at the Ohio University Invitational (11:10.16) in an 11th-place effort and has been BSU's second-best competitor in both 5K races with a season-best time of 19:07 coming at the Indiana Intercollegiates.

Redshirt freshman Christine Talhelm (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central H.S.) has clocked in as BSU's third-best runner in both 5K meets with a career-fast time of 19:26 coming at the Cardinals' last meet in the Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 2).