Central Michigan University Athletics
Women's XC Heads Back to Buffalo for MACs
10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
MOUNT PLEASANT -- When the Central Michigan University women’s cross country team heads to Buffalo, New York this Saturday for the Mid-American Conference Championships, the Chippewas will be looking to match the success they had on the course back in late September.
CMU ran in the UB Stampede Invitational and placed second on September 23.
“We are ready and excited to compete,” coach Karen Lutzke said. “We are looking forward to the challenge. The course was wet when we were on it before and it is expected to be even wetter this weekend.
“There is one small hill. It is not a hard course, but it is not a fast course either because it is a state park. There are two laps so spectators have a great view.”
All 12 MAC schools will participate in the 5K event at Beaver Island State Park. The men’s race begins at 11 a.m., and the women’s race at noon. Akron is the defending champion and CMU tied for seventh last season. Lutzke points to Ohio as the favorite this year.
“Ohio has done well all season and after that it is wide open,” she said. “It is all about putting it together on that given day.
“Our focus is to step on the line and know we are as good as everyone else out there. We’ve got to move our front pack up. We were timid at the start of our last race and didn’t do that. The next group also has to close the gap.”
CMU’s nine-runner lineup for the meet includes Ashley Anderson, Elizabeth Carpenter, Michelle Diverio, Kelly McClure, Sara Prout, Jackie Rivard, Amanda Rudert, Sarah Squires and Emily Van Wasshenova.
Diverio, Rivard and Rudert were consistently CMU’s top three runners during the year and are expected to form the Chippewas’ lead pack again on Saturday.
Five of the nine Chippewa runners have experience in the MAC meet, including Anderson, Carpenter, Prout, Rivard and Rudert. It will be the first league competition for Diverio, McClure, Squires and Van Wasshenova.
Weather could definitely play a factor on Saturday as rain, wind and temperatures in the low 40s are in the forecast.
“The weather could be a factor but we’re not going to let it be a factor,” Lutzke said. “Our last race at WMU didn’t have good weather and we were overdressed. We have to be tougher. We didn’t race well and it was a hard learning experience for us and a good practice situation.”
The Chippewas placed second of six teams in that meet, the George Dales Invitational, on Oct. 13. Western Michigan had the top four individuals in the 5K and CMU placed fifth through eighth.
Rudert was fifth (18:57), Diverio sixth (19:00), Rivard seventh (19:05) and Carpenter eighth (19:07). Prout completed the scoring in 16th (19:44).
Following Saturday’s MAC meet, the Chippewas are off until heading to the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals on Nov. 11 at Bowling Green.
