Chippewa Men Squarely in the MAC Cross Country Hunt

Aug. 27, 2014

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan men have been knocking on the door at the Mid-American Conference championships for a while now.

Might this be the year they open it?

"I feel like we have a shot," said Matt Kaczor, who is in his seventh year as CMU's associate head coach. "We're going to be pretty deep. I think we have the depth that we need to finally make a run for it."

The Chippewas, who last won the MAC in 2004, lost just one runner from last year's team which finished third in the conference championships. CMU was second in both 2011 and 2012, and, has finished no worse than fourth in eight of the last nine years.

The Chippewas return two First Team All-MAC runners in junior Nate Ghena and sophomore Spencer Nousain along with senior Ethan Lievense. Ghena finished fourth in the MAC a year ago, while Nousain was seventh and Lievense was 17th.

CMU is also bolstered by the return of three top talents in seniors Kyle Stacks, Ben Wynsma and Nathan Huff.

Stacks, a first team all-leaguer in 2012, missed all but two races last season because of an injury, while Wynsma's entire junior season was wiped out by injury. Huff redshirted a year ago.

Also in the mix are sophomore Casey Voisin along with freshmen Alec Toreki and Joseph Emmanuel.

Clearly, the Chippewas are loaded with potential, and Kaczor is cautiously optimistic.

"Workouts are going better than they have in years past because of the stiff competition, because they know good guys are going to be left at home this year," he said. "If Stacks can stay healthy and be at the line on Nov. 1 (for the MAC Championships), he gives us a great shot. If our freshmen can step up in there and make an impact, we should be in the hunt. We're definitely going to be better than we were last year.

"With the redshirts and the injuries we were kind of thin. This year, I look at the roster, and I think we're at 14 who have a legitimate shot of being in our top nine at conference and our top seven at regionals."

The biggest hurdles between the Chippewas and a MAC title are Eastern Michigan and Akron.

The Eagles have won back-to-back conference titles, 18 overall, and seven of the last nine. They return two second team all-leaguers in Warren Witchell and Willy Fink along with Nick Raymond, who finished 16th in the MAC last season.

Akron was second in the league a year ago, and returns four runners who finished in the top 18 in that meet.

The Chippewas are ranked 12th in the Great Lakes Region in the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association preseason poll. Akron is ranked ninth, Eastern is 10th.

"We've got a deep squad and I think we could make a run," Kaczor said. "It's going to take winning battles against Eastern and Akron."