Senior Baidy Ba finished first out of 313 runners with a time of 24:22.8 in the Men’s College Brown 8k at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., Saturday. This was his second win of the season in three events.
This brought the men’s team to a 15th place finish out of 38 teams, while the women’s team placed 30th out of 35 teams in the Women’s College Brown 6k.
This was a new course to the Flashes, as they have not previously competed in this race.
“It’s hard when you don’t know the course because every course we run is different,” coach Laura Rybka said. “Both teams ran around where I expected them to for where we are in the season, so I feel like we’re in a solid place.”
Behind Ba, on the men’s side sophomore Jack Curtis and graduate student Ethan Yost both placed in the top 100.
“Jack Curtis stood out this weekend too,” Rybka said. “He dropped around two minutes off his time from his last race, which is pretty significant.”
Curtis ran a personal-best time of 26:15.9, landing him in 89th place. His previous personal-best was 28:02.8. Yost followed less than .1 second later in 90th place also with a time of 26:15.9.
In addition to Ba’s win, Rybka was impressed with the women’s team’s performance.
“On the women’s side, the whole team stood out,” Rybka said. “They did a good job at pack running, and they passed over 240 people collectively, which was impressive.”
Top runners on the women’s team included senior Sydney Miller and freshman Nora Salem, who both finished in the top 150 out of 286 total finishers. Miller placed 103rd with a time of 23:14.4, and Salem placed 123rd with a time of 23:24.5.
Three meets into the season, the Flashes are planning to start refining their training to prepare for regionals and the Mid-American Conference championship meets in early November.
“This is the time of the season where we’re transitioning from building volume and fitness to then sharpness,” Rybka said. “This will help us build the tools to handle different paces better and transition gears while running.”
The Flashes’ next meet is Oct. 18 at the Falcon Invite hosted by Bowling Green University.
The last time Kent ran in this event was in the 2022 season, where the women’s team placed sixth out of 13 participating teams, while the men’s team did not participate.
While still working on improvements, Rybka knows the team is moving in a positive direction.
“We’re working towards being the best that we can be,” she said. “I’m not quite sure exactly where that will put us, but it’s still a good solid place.”
Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
