Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Butler Open - Northview Christian Church
Bryzek Leads Cross Country at Butler Open
September 05, 2015 | Cross Country
CARMEL, Ind. - - A youthful Ball State cross country team took to the course for the first time under head coach Brian Etelman Saturday morning, placing fourth at the 5K Butler Open held at Northview Christian Church in Carmel, Ind.
“It was incredibly exciting to see our student-athletes put on the uniform and compete for the first time this season,” Etelman said. “We were not putting much into the outcome of today's meet, more so using it as an evaluation tool to identify our strengths and weaknesses.”
Leading the Cardinals to the finish line for the first time in her career Saturday was sophomore Jessica Bryzek (Brownsburg, Ind./Indiana Academy), who placed 12th among the 44-runners in the field with a time of 19:47.3.
Junior Ericka Rinehart (Angola, Ind./Angola) was Ball State's second-best finisher on the day, taking home 18th overall (15th scoring) with a clocking of 20:11.6.
“I was really impressed by the one-two punch of Jessica Bryzek and Ericka Rinehart, as they showed a high level of preparation,” Etelman said. “They have really bought into our system and it paid off with a couple of outstanding season-opening performances.”
In her collegiate cross country debut, freshman Rachel Bales (West Lafayette, Ind./West Lafayette) was Ball State's third-best performer, crossing the finish line in 21:02.2 to place 31st overall (20th scored).
Rounding out Ball State's five scored runners were junior Emma Manchess (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) and sophomore Rachel Billingsley (Batesville, Ind./Oldenburg Academy) with times of 21:09.1 (32nd overall / 21st scoring) and 21:15.7 (33rd overall / 22nd scoring), respectively.
Freshman Hannah Privette (New Knoxville, Ohio/New Knoxville) also made her collegiate debut for the Cardinals, placing 41st overall in 22:13.6. Redshirt junior Jordan Jenkins (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) was Ball State's final competitor, finishing 42nd overall with a career-fast 5K time of 22:13.8.
The Ball State cross country team will resume its training for the next 12 days, before returning to action at the Indiana Intercollegiates hosted by Indiana State at the LaVern Gibson Course Sept. 18.
“We are looking forward to training for the next two weeks and showing our improvement at Indiana State,” Etelman concluded.
For the latest information on Ball State cross country, follow the team on twitter @BallStateSports, @BallStateTFXC and @CoachE_BSU.
Ball State Individual Results
12th – Jessica Bryzek (So.) – 19:47.3
18th – Ericka Rinehart (Jr.) – 20:11.6 (15th scoring)
31st – Rachel Bales (Fr.) – 21:02.2* (20th scoring)
32nd – Emma Manchess (Jr.) – 21:09.1 (21st scoring)
33rd – Rachel Billingsley (So. ) – 21:15.7 (22nd scoring)
41st – Hannah Privette (Fr.) – 22:13.6* (27th scoring)
42nd – Jordan Jenkins (Jr.) – 22:13.8* (28th scoring)
* denotes Ball State career-fast time
