Bowling Green, OH (U-WIRE) -- The Falcon cross country team finished out its season in record-setting fashion.

Led by senior Niki Suitor's 51st place finish, the team placed 15th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, finishing with 381 points.

This was an improvement of four places and 92 points from the meet last year.

The highlight of the race was Suitor's school record time of 21:26.5 in the 6K. Senior Melissa Krueger's time of 21:40.6 also beat the previous school record of 21:50 set by Amber Culp last year. Krueger finished 66th.

"I told them I wanted someone to break the record this weekend," BG head coach Cami Wells said. "It is a fast course and I knew if the weather was nice and the course was dry the times would be fast."

The next falcon to cross the finish line was freshman Jamie Roflow, finishing 77th in 21:52.3, followed by senior Elise Gould, 89th in 22:09.8. Roflow's time is fourth and Gould's is sixth in BG's record book for the 6K. Also, Roflow's finish is the highest freshman finish since Amber Culp in 2000.

Rounding out the orange and brown last Saturday were Andrea Pollack, 113th; 22:40.5, Kim Settle 131st, 22:53.0; and Stephanie Hillman, 132nd, 22:57.3.

Between the record-setting times and their highest team finish since 2000, the three seniors finished out their careers with quite a bang.

"I could not be happier with the way the seniors raced this season. They really focused on putting in the training this summer and came into the season mentally and physically prepared. It is the most competitive and consistent they have been over the course of their careers here. They did a great job of leading the team," coach Wells said.

Every BG runner ran a personal best time for the 6K.

"The weather was perfect for cross country racing, the course was pretty flat with very good footing and competition. All of those factors played a part in the fast times," Wells said.

The University of Michigan claimed the team title with 40 points.

(C) 2004 The BG News via U-WIRE