Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Open Season With Drenth Memorial Friday
8/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
MOUNT PLEASANT The season-opening Jeff Drenth Memorial is usually the only home appearance for the Central Michigan University cross country team each season, but that’s not the case this year.
The Chippewas kick off the 2007 campaign as usual this Friday, August 31 with the Drenth meet, but CMU is also hosting the Mid-American Conference Championships on Oct. 27.
“The emphasis for the whole season is getting ready for the MAC Championships, especially since we are hosting the event this year,” coach Craig Fuller said. “Because it is usually our only home meet, a lot of guys forget what I say and try to go out and run fast.
“This is our shortest race of the year and I think it gets the guys back to their high school roots and they get excited. We’ve got to get them to focus, though.”
Michigan State and Ferris State are scheduled to compete in the non-scoring event. The women’s 5K begins at 4 p.m. with the men’s 5K set for 4:30 p.m.
The Chippewas will have nine entries in Friday’s meet but last year’s champion and returning All-MAC honoree Matt Loiselle (illness) won’t be one of them.
The veterans scheduled to compete include Donnie Richmond, Andrew Manning and Dan Cramer.
“We’ll see where we are at with this meet,” Fuller said. “We’ve got some guys who have been training well and some who are not in good shape. We haven’t done anything this fast in our training but I know we’ll have some competition with Michigan State and Ferris State.”
Chippewas Picked Third: CMU was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference this season according to the annual coaches poll. Eastern Michigan was tabbed the favorite while Kent State was picked second. CMU returns six letterwinners from last year’s team that finished second. Returning letterwinners include Matt Loiselle, Sean Anthony, Andrew Manning, Dan Cramer, Jacob Korir and Donnie Richmond.
Honoring Drenth: The race honors former CMU All-American Jeff Drenth who died while training for the United States Olympic team. The event holds special meaning for the participants as all three head coaches knew Drenth. CMU coach Craig Fuller was a Chippewa teammate of Jeff while Jeff’s brother, Walt, is the head coach at Michigan State. Ferris State coach Jeff Kavalunas was an assistant at CMU in the late 1980s under Walt Drenth.
Next Up: The Chippewas’ next meet is the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 14.
The Chippewas kick off the 2007 campaign as usual this Friday, August 31 with the Drenth meet, but CMU is also hosting the Mid-American Conference Championships on Oct. 27.
“The emphasis for the whole season is getting ready for the MAC Championships, especially since we are hosting the event this year,” coach Craig Fuller said. “Because it is usually our only home meet, a lot of guys forget what I say and try to go out and run fast.
“This is our shortest race of the year and I think it gets the guys back to their high school roots and they get excited. We’ve got to get them to focus, though.”
Michigan State and Ferris State are scheduled to compete in the non-scoring event. The women’s 5K begins at 4 p.m. with the men’s 5K set for 4:30 p.m.
The Chippewas will have nine entries in Friday’s meet but last year’s champion and returning All-MAC honoree Matt Loiselle (illness) won’t be one of them.
The veterans scheduled to compete include Donnie Richmond, Andrew Manning and Dan Cramer.
“We’ll see where we are at with this meet,” Fuller said. “We’ve got some guys who have been training well and some who are not in good shape. We haven’t done anything this fast in our training but I know we’ll have some competition with Michigan State and Ferris State.”
Chippewas Picked Third: CMU was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference this season according to the annual coaches poll. Eastern Michigan was tabbed the favorite while Kent State was picked second. CMU returns six letterwinners from last year’s team that finished second. Returning letterwinners include Matt Loiselle, Sean Anthony, Andrew Manning, Dan Cramer, Jacob Korir and Donnie Richmond.
Honoring Drenth: The race honors former CMU All-American Jeff Drenth who died while training for the United States Olympic team. The event holds special meaning for the participants as all three head coaches knew Drenth. CMU coach Craig Fuller was a Chippewa teammate of Jeff while Jeff’s brother, Walt, is the head coach at Michigan State. Ferris State coach Jeff Kavalunas was an assistant at CMU in the late 1980s under Walt Drenth.
Next Up: The Chippewas’ next meet is the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 14.
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