Central Michigan University Athletics
2010 Women's Cross Country Preview
8/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
The Central Michigan University women’s cross country program has its sights set on a Mid-American Conference championship this season.
“This season, we want to start a strong tradition and set a foundation for the future, as well as compete with Miami and Toledo for the title,” said Willie Randolph, CMU's director of cross country/track and field.
Distance coach Matt Kaczor added, “We want to send off the senior class off in the best way possible, so that they can get the ring that has eluded them. But we certainly realize that it is not going to be easy with the level of competition in the MAC.”
Randolph has developed a challenging schedule to help prepare his squad for the conference championship meet, slated for Oct. 30 at Western Michigan. The Chippewas will see intra-conference foes at several meets this season, including CMU’s own 25th Annual Jeff Drenth Memorial (Sept. 3), the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing (Sept. 17) and the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships in Rochester, Mich. (Oct. 8). CMU will run against several nationally ranked programs at both the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis (Sept. 25) and the Pre-National Meet in Terre Haute, Ind. (Oct. 16).
“We have a very competitive schedule for where we are at and where we want to be," Randolph said. "We want to get our runners some great experience for the conference, regional and national levels.”

CMU will be led by a host of upperclassmen, including seniors Melissa Darling and Sarah Squires. They are both vying for the top spot and both bring something different to the competition. Darling finished the year very well last year, as she finished seventh at the MAC Championships for first team All-MAC honors. She also finished 15th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet and won the Jeff Drenth Memorial. Squires has more experience and more big meet experience, as this is her fifth year in the program, but she missed the cross country season last year with a foot injury.
Four other seniors also return for the Maroon and Gold: Danielle Dakroub, Brittany Dixon, Kylee Kubacki and Rachel Wittum. Dakroub’s top moments in 2009 were a fifth place finish at the Jeff Drenth Memorial and a 16th place finish at the Spartan Invitational, which was the top finish among Chippewa runners. Dixon placed 10th at the Jeff Drenth Memorial.
“Both Dixon and Daktroub had really good summers and they are closing the gap on the top two,” Kaczor said.
Holly Anderson, Raeanne Lohner and Carnele Lyons make up the Chippewas' junior class. Anderson finished 16th at the MAC Championships in 2009 and finished fourth at the Jeff Drenth Memorial. Lohner is coming off of a great outdoor track season, where she was named the MAC Most Outstanding Track Performer after she won the 5000m and 10,000m at the MAC Outdoor Championships and qualified for regionals.
"Holly is mixing in with all the seniors and she will help to make this a very deep team this year," Kaczor said.
Sophomores Courtnay Hughes, Jacquelyn McEnhill and Maddie Ribant add depth behind the upperclassmen, as does redshirt freshman Lauren Wilson.
The top recruits stepping onto campus this year for the Chippewas are Krista Parks and Lauren Halm. Parks was a two-time all-state cross country runner at East Kentwood High School and an all-state selection in track and field in 2010. Halm qualified for the state meet all four years in both cross country and track. She was named to the Lansing State Journal Dream Team in track and field in 2010 and in cross country in 2009. She helped lead her team to four league titles, as well as one regional and state title.
“We are hoping to see Krista as the centerpiece of the program after this senior class graduates and are excited for what she is capable of doing," Kaczor said. "We want her to learn from the upperclassmen this year.
“We are looking for Lauren to adjust well to the difference in training and to move her way up through the group so that she is able to start contributing and to make an impact in this program for years to come," he added.
Randolph is in his second year as the director of the cross country and track and field program. The Saginaw, Mich. native is a 1998 graduate of CMU and was a two-year letterman as a hurdler in the Chippewas' track and field program.
The assistant coaches for cross country are Kaczor and Kristen Paulsen. Kaczor has spent three seasons coaching the distance and middle distance runners for the cross country and track and field programs. Kaczor ran for the Chippewas from 2001-2004 and was a part of three MAC cross country championship teams in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He was the captain of the 2004 team. Kaczor was also a part of the outdoor track team that won the 2003 MAC championship. He graduated from CMU with a degree in secondary education and history in May 2005.
Paulsen is in her second season as an assistant coach here at CMU. She coaches the jumps and multi-event performers for the track and field program and assists with the cross country program.
