Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Runners Take The Week Off
2/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 1, 1999
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Men's Cross Country Update
THE TEAM--The Central Michigan University men's cross country team has the week off before competing at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional championships on Nov. 13 at Indiana State. The Chippewas captured the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship on Oct. 30 at Kent.
THE COACH--Craig Fuller is in his 10th year heading up the Chippewa men's cross country program. Fuller, who also serves as an assistant track coach, guided CMU to a third-place finish at the Mid-American Conference championships and a 20th-place finish at the NCAA championships in 1998. He has mentored four CMU athletes to All-American honors including Richie Brinker (1997-98) and Ryan Watson (1998) and five MAC champions in Jeff Drenth (1982-83), Pat Duffy (1984), Barry Deese (1994) and Brinker (1998).
LAST WEEKEND--Central Michigan took the top spot at the MAC championships hosted by Kent on Saturday. The Chippewas won with 37 points and were followed by Miami (75), Western Michigan (95), Eastern Michigan (125), Kent (135), Marshall (193), Ohio (204), Akron (229), Buffalo (233), Ball State (238), Bowling Green (243) and Toledo (314).
The Chippewas were led by All-MAC picks Jacob Brundage (Sheridan/Sr.), Ryan Lantzer (St. Louis/So.) and Ryan Watson (Cedar Springs/Sr.). Brundage took third place (24:56), Lantzer fourth (24:56) and Watson fifth (24:59). Jason Jaloszynski (Shepherd/Jr.) earned second team All-MAC honors with a 10th-place finish (25:12).
Other Chippewa runners were: Luke Humphrey (Sidney/Fr.) in 15th (25:23), Richard Bauer (Howell/Fr.) 21st (25:36), Jeff Davis (Temperance/Fr.) 31st (25:54) and Jared Biniecki (Canton/Jr.) 32nd (25:55).
FULLER WINNING THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP--"We are happy with our performance this weekend. We didn't get the whole pie, though. I really wanted one of our guys to individually win the meet. We wanted the travelling trophy that goes along with winning the meet. However, having three of the six All-MAC spots locked up is pretty impressive. Something else that stood out was our eighth guy could have been any other MAC teams fifth guy. It shows this team's depth. It would have been nice to have been able to run two more of our guys."
FULLER ON THE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP--"We have our work cut out in the regionals. We will be competing against some good teams. Notre Dame, the Big East champions, Wisconsin, the Big Ten champions, and Michigan, the Big Ten runner-up, are all tough teams. We are ranked fourth in our district behind these guys. If we want to go to nationals we will have to beat these teams. We just want to keep improving and being a 10K race might be an advantage for us."
MAC CHAMPIONS--The Chippewas, who also won the title in 1982, 1988 and 1989, captured their fourth MAC championship at Kent. CMU set a conference record for fewest points scored by the championship winner in a 12-team field with 37. The previous low was 46 points by Miami in 1998.
COACH OF THE YEAR--CMU head coach Craig Fuller was named MAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Chippewas to the MAC crown. "The best part of winning the award is knowing I beat out some very good coaches, some that have been at their schools for over thirty years," Fuller said. "To beat coaches like that is a real honor."
ALL-MAC--A trio of Chippewas earned first team All-MAC honors after finishing in the top six at the MAC championships. Jacob Brundage finished third, Ryan Lantzer fourth and Ryan Watson fifth. Watson earned first team All-MAC honors last year, Brundage was named second team in 1998 and Lantzer is a first-time honoree. Jason Jaloszynski was named second-team All-MAC after finishing in 10th place.
