Ball State University Athletics
Cross Country Opens Season At Great American Legends Race
September 02, 2010 | Cross Country
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State cross country team opens its 2010 campaign Friday, when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., for the Great American Legends race hosted by Purdue at the Purdue Varsity Cross Country Course. The women's 5K race, which features the Cardinals and Boilermakers, is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. and will be an un-scored team race.
"This is a great opportunity to start our season against a strong Purdue squad," said Ball State head coach Randy Heisler. "We have been training hard for the past few weeks, so it will be nice for our team to get out and run a race. We have a very talented group of upperclassmen returning, which has helped push our younger runners during the preseason. It will be exciting to see who steps up this weekend as we look to nail down our lineup for future races."
The Cardinals are led by senior Ali Bishel (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) who will be looking to earn her way into the NCAA Championships for the third time in her career. Last season, Bishel placed 67th at the NCAA Championships with a career-fast 6K time of 21:04.7, after earning First Team All-Mid-American Conference accolades for her fourth-place finish at the MAC Championships.
"I am looking forward to seeing what Ali does in her senior season," said Heisler. "She has been a strong competitor for our program over her career, and I look for her to continue to push not only herself, but the team as a whole. Ali has been training hard and has her sights set on returning to the NCAA Championships. She wants to improve upon her finish last season and is looking to earn All-America accolades in the race for the first time in her career."
In addition to Bishel, the Cardinals return seniors Kelsey Nielsen (Bremen, Ind./Bremen H.S.) and Brittany Ade (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger H.S.) who both redshirted last season. Ade ran all six races for the Cardinals in 2008, while Nielsen competed in four.
"Having Kelsey and Brittany back will be a huge boost for our program," said Heisler. "They bring with them the experience we need to help our eight underclassmen. Both are strong competitors and will be vital to our success this season."
From there, the Cardinals roster turns toward youth, with five sophomores and three freshmen. BSU's sophomore class (three true sophomores and two redshirt sophomores) includes four runners who competed last season in Allison Blanck (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central H.S.), MaryKate Mellen (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City H.S.), Christine Talhelm (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central H.S.) and Emilee Zets (Berlin Center, Ohio/West Branch H.S), as well as Madeline Goheen (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger H.S.) who joined the program during the indoor track & field campaign.
"Our sophomore class gained a lot of experience last season," said Heisler. "They were thrown in the mix early in their careers and learned the amount of work involved in running a complete cross country season at the collegiate level."
New to the roster this season are freshmen Tiffany Cange (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville H.S.), Shelbi Goble (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central H.S.) and Esther Tirado (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson H.S.).
"I look for our freshmen to learn a lot over the course of this season," said Heisler. "They have shown a lot of promise during the preseason, and I look for them to push the runners ahead of them."
Beginning with Friday's meet, the Cardinals will have five races to prepare for the 2010 Mid-American Conference Championships which will be hosted by Western Michigan Oct. 30. The NCAA Great Lakes Regional will be run Nov. 13 in Oakland, Mich., while the NCAA Championships return to Terre Haute, Ind., Nov. 22.
