Senior Baidy Ba finished sixth with a time of 29:24.5 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships in Norton, Ohio, Friday, breaking the Kent State men’s 10k record for the third year in a row.
Ba’s performance earned him All-Region honors for the third consecutive season and secured him a spot in the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
The men’s team placed 24th out of 31 teams. Last season, they placed 21st out of 30 teams.
On the women’s side, the Flashes placed last out of 32 teams while last season they placed 26th out of 32 teams.
For all distance athletes, apart from Ba, this was the last cross county race of the season. Coach Laura Rybka feels that they ended on a positive note.
“I’m really proud of everyone,” Rybka said. “It was hilly, rainy and muddy, so the conditions were tough, but I feel like we did the best that we could. We had a great day.”
Graduate student Ethan Yost and junior Nick Huger were the next finishers for the men’s team. Both ran under 34 minutes, setting personal records for themselves. Yost ran a time of 31:39.1 for 101st place, and Huger ran a time of 33:39.9 for 192nd place.
“This was the best race the men have had all year,” Rybka said. “There’s been a lot of growth, and they ran for each other. That’s what matters.”
Three Flashes on the women’s team placed better than 200th place in the women’s 6k.
Senior Sydney Miller led the pack, landing in 166th place with a time of 22:36.6. Freshman Nora Salem wasn’t far behind, running a time of 22:46.9 for 174th place, and junior Nicole Kuehner ran a time of 23:09.8 for 192nd place.
Rybka said she was happy with the strength the women showed during this race.
“The women have been doing harder, longer workouts, and I know they were tired this week leading up to the race,” Rybka said. “But I’m just so proud of how mentally tough they were as a team.”
Reflecting on her first season with Kent State, Rybka said both teams had a lot of change, but they did a great job continuing to grow.
“Sometimes when you’re growing, you don’t always see it, but I think that this meet – a lot of the team began to see all of their hard work pay off,” Rybka said. “It can be difficult having a new coach and having things be so different, but they’re doing all of the small things that it takes to be successful long-term.”
As a team, the Flashes won’t be competing again until track season, but Ba will be racing Saturday at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wis.
“Ba is somebody who is so dedicated to the small things, and those margins add up,” Rybka said. “It’s really cool seeing him take these steps forward as a runner and seeing all of the work he’s put in.”
After Ba’s race, Rybka is excited to start preparing for track and build off of what they’ve learned throughout the cross country season.
“We set a lot of groundwork of new habits and routines, so they should continue to see the dividends of their work in track too,” Rybka said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing everybody shine in their own individual events and see the progress building off of this season. Both teams finished on such a strong note, so I hope to carry that into track.”
Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
