Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Head to Cross Country Regional
11/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A top-10 finish is the goal Friday as the Central Michigan cross country teams partake in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at the Wisconsin Thomas Zimmer Championship Course.
The women's race begins at 1 p.m. The men's at 2 p.m. The top two teams from each of nine regional sites automatically advance to the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. Another 13 at-large selections will fill out the 31-team field.
The Chippewa women were third and the men fourth two weeks ago at the Mid-American Conference Championships.
The CMU women finished one point behind second-place Bowling Green. The Chippewas are ranked 10th in the region, right behind the Falcons.
"We had a great performance on the women's side," CMU coach Matt Kaczor said of the MAC event. "If we can get our five performing pretty well, maybe just a notch better than what they did at the conference meet, then that's a team that could be top 10.
"I like seeing single digits better than I like seeing double digits. Our women are starting to perform at the right time."
The Chippewa men are ranked 14th in the region. For a single-digit finish, they will need strong performances from freshman Luke Anderson and Mark Beckman. As is customary, the men's race distance increases to 10K from 8K.
"You're dealing with freshmen, true freshmen, you don't know how they're going to react to their first ever cross country 10K," Kaczor said. "We're going to have to do some work. We're going to have to beat some teams that we haven't beaten yet this year to do it.
"I think we've got a team -- we show up at the right times. That's kind of the goal, keep moving up."
Players Mentioned
