Spletzer Paces Cardinals to Sixth-Place Finish in Kalamazoo

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Carly Spletzer returned to racing for Ball State on Friday morning while leading the Cardinals to a sixth-place finish among 11 teams at the George Dales Invite, hosted by Western Michigan University.

The senior who led Ball State much of last season, did not race in the Cardinals' opening meet last month, but returned with a 12th-place overall finish Friday, in a 6K time of 21:39.4. Freshman Emily Decker was Ball State's next finisher at 22:20.9, finishing 25th out of 117 runners on the course at The Prairies Golf Club.

"Our young ladies showed tremendous promise today in their first 6k of the season against other Mid-American Conference programs," said track and cross country coach Adrian Wheatley. "To have several lifetime bests at this point in the year is very encouraging and a strong sign of their commitment. This meet served as a valuable dress rehearsal for the big show in Buffalo later this year, and I'm proud of how our group embraced the challenge. Spletzer set the tone in her season debut, and I'm excited about the leadership she continues to bring to this young program.

The top three finishers in the race were MAC schools Ohio, Central Michigan and Western Michigan. Ball State scored five runners in the top 60 to finish two places ahead of MAC rival Eastern Michigan.

Sophomore Tori Jackson clocked a time of 22:43.4 which fell just shy of her career-best 6K time from last season. Freshman Rosie Gonzalez finished at 22:57.3, Sadey Seyferth finished at 23:48.0 and Kendyl Thrasher logged a personal-best 6K time of 24:07.2.

The Cardinals' next race is Oct. 3 in the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend.

Spletzer Paces Cardinals to Sixth-Place Finish in Kalamazoo

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Players Mentioned

Emily Decker

Rosie Gonzalez

Tori Jackson

Sadey Seyferth

Carly Spletzer

Kendyl Thrasher