Central Michigan University Athletics
Men's Cross Country Prepares For MAC Championships
10/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 21, 2003
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MOUNT PLEASANT -- The No. 22-ranked Central Michigan University men's cross country team will take a week off before it begins the most competitive stretch for the season.
After the brief hiatus, the Chippewas will face the heady task of defending their Mid-American Conference title. Beyond the MAC meet, CMU has the NCAA Regional and Championship meets on the horizon.
CMU won the conference title by one point last season, narrowly edging out perennial power Eastern Michigan.
While Eastern Michigan was the preseason favorite a year ago, the conference's coaches poll selected CMU the preseason favorite this year.
However, the MAC Championship will not be a walk in the park. One of the more competitive conferences in the Great Lakes Region, the MAC has three teams ranked nationally in the top 30. While CMU owns the highest ranking in the MAC (No. 22), Miami checks in at No. 26 while Eastern Michigan has been floating in and out of the rankings all season.
"It might be a close meet this year," head coach Craig Fuller said. "But, it can't get much closer than last year's.
"Miami is fielding a great team and we'll have to run at our best if we expect to defend our title. Unfortunately, we are not running at our best right now."
But, before the Chippewas venture to Akron for the conference championship, they will take a week off to train and prepare for the race.
"We need to get some decent workouts in this week," Fuller said. "But, I think that we will be fine. The race is still two weeks away and anything can happen between now and then."
The Chippewas entered action last week ranked sixth in the country. However, with a ninth-place showing at last week's Pre-NCAA meet, the team slipped 16 spots in this week's poll.
"We definitely could have run better last weekend," said Fuller. "I don't think that we were ready for that fast of a situation.
"I don't mind being ranked 22nd. I think that this team was getting complacent, being ranked as high as we were. Now, there's a hunger on the team to prove that we are a top-10 program."
Last Week - CMU tied for ninth place in the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet hosted by Northern Iowa on Oct. 18. The Chippewas ran in the Purple Race on the same course that NCAA championships will be held on Nov. 25.
CMU finished with a score of 318, tying Florida State. Stanford, the nation's top-ranked team, won the meet with a score of 25.
Leading the way for CMU was senior Jeff Davis (Temperance/Sr.). He completed the 8K course in 24:09 for a 33rd-place finish.
Also scoring for the Chippewas were Tristen Perlberg (Bay City/Jr.) in 35th overall (24:12), Luke Humphrey (Sidney/Sr.) in 53rd (24:29), Don Wilkins (Trenton/Sr.) in 89th (24:47), and Jake Flynn (Benzonia/Jr.) in 110th (25:00).
