2004 Men's Cross Country Outlook
9/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 2, 2004
The Central Michigan University men's cross-country team is the persistent favorite striving for its third straight MAC Championship in the 2004 campaign.
The Chippewas, who finished fourth at regionals and 18th at nationals in 2003, were picked by the Mid-American Conference cross country coaches to finish first in the conference this fall.
"It does put some pressure on the team," said veteran head coach Craig Fuller. "I think that if we work hard and focus our team will be right up there with the top teams."
Coming off stellar 2002 and 2003 seasons the Chippewas lost five athletes including All-MAC second team runner Luke Humphrey (Sidney).
The Chippewas are led by a seven seniors who look to stand out this year included in the mix are All-MAC returnees Jake Flynn (Benzonia) and Tristen Perlberg (Bay City). Perlberg finished third at the conference championships and eighth (30:48) at the regional meet while Flynn finished ninth (24:30) at the conference championships last year.
"It is going to be the seniors who are really going to determine how good we will be this year. There is a lot of talent on their end and I think that they will set the tone for the rest of the team," said Fuller.
Other seniors returning are Jacques Henning (Harbor Springs), Jacob Crowe (Grand Ledge), Dave Ernsberger (Harbor Springs), Matt Kaczor (Freeland) and Chad Theurkorn (Haslett).
Henning finished 17th at the MAC Championships and first in the Jeff Drenth Memorial (15:47). Crowe finished second in the Jeff Drenth (15:57) and competed in three meets last season.
Also vying for a place on the team is sophomore Jeff Powers (Franklin,Ind.) who finished 22nd at the MAC Championship, and was the seventh man for the Chippewas at Nationals (31.28) .
Coming up the ranks this year are freshmen Matt Loiselle (Windsor, Ontario) who was red shirted last season, Don Richmond (Ortonville), Adam Koepfer (Temperance) and Justin Hajduk (Canton).
The 2004 season will begin with the Chippewas only home meet, the Jeff Drenth Memorial on Sept. 3. Among the stops along the way is the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C. on Oct. 1.
"We really enjoy going to North Carolina," Fuller said. "You get to see how good you are outside the region. You see some of the best teams in the nation there."
Two of the key meets will be the MAC Championships (Oct. 30) in Toledo, Ohio and the NCAA Championships (Nov. 22) in Terre Haute, Indiana.
"The teams in this conference are going to raise the bar this year. Miami is going to be really good, along with Eastern Michigan. It's going to be a tough race, because the conference is pretty balanced," said Fuller.
"We are going to go out there and educate ourselves and raise our level of awareness about the other teams in order to build our team throughout the season."