Sunday, October 20, 2013

Depth Pays Dividends as Boise State Downs Nevada 34-17

Bates Paces Bronco Women to 11th Place Finish at Pre-National Invitational, Bronco Men Finish 8th



Emma Bates has done it again.  This great distance runner who made a name for herself at the NCAA National Track & Field Championships is coming home with the championship at the prestigious Indiana State University Pre-National Invitational 6-kilometer race title.  Bates' great performance Saturday enabled Boise State to finish 11th at the meet with 443 points.

Meanwhile, the #19 Boise State men were not to be outdone.  They finished eighth at the course in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Emma Bates
Bates held onto the lead in the women's competition with several competitors trying to overtake her.  After dropping to third in the final stretch, Emma summoned an additional gear from inside, passing Aisling Cuffe of Stanford, who had just taken the lead from Florida State's Hannah Walker, and sprinted to the finish.

Bates won the race of 339 competitors in 20:09.90, with Cuffe finishing in 20:10.17 (27/100th's behind).  Marisa Howard of Boise State was 47th in 20:59.90.

Aaron Back paced the Bronco men this time, finishing 47th out of 359 runners.  Back finished the 8-kilometer course in 24:10.51, while Allan Schroeder was 56th in 24:16.29.  David Elliott was 61st with a time of 24:18.21.  

Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech won the men's individual race in 22:52.78, while #2 Colorado won the team title with 90 points.  #5 Georgetown captured the women's team title with 117 points.

With that spectacular performance behind them, the Boise State cross country teams prepare for the 2013 Mountain West Cross Country Championships November 1 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.