Cross Country Kicks It Off With Drenth Memorial
9/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan men's and women's cross country teams open the 2016 season on Friday with the 31st Annual Jeff Drenth Memorial at Pleasant Hills Golf Course.
The men's race is set to begin at 10 a.m. with the women's to follow.
The CMU women return the core of a team that finished third a year ago at the Mid-American Conference Championships.
Kirsten Olling, who earned First Team All-MAC honors last fall with a seventh-place finish in the league race, is the top returnee. She has plenty of company at the top of the lineup in the likes of junior Kelly Schubert along with sophomores Megan O'Neil and Samantha Allmacher.
Schubert earned Second Team All-MAC honors last season.
Behind the leading quartet are capable veterans Hannah Davis, Esther Bell and Jamie Madrigal, each of them a senior, and freshman Carissa Gobbi.
"If we can develop our fifth runner into something pretty solid we should be at least where we were last year," said Kaczor, who added that the ultimate goal is a high placing at the NCAA Regional. "We've only have had a handful of teams in the regional meet in the top 10."
The Chippewa women were picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll; the men were fifth. Eastern Michigan, which last year swept the team titles, was picked to finish first in both genders.
On the men's side, the Chippewas are looking to re-tool after a fourth-place in the MAC in 2015. They have big shoes to fill with the loss to graduation of three-time all-leaguer Nate Ghena. Among the top returnees are seniors Casey Voisin and Spencer Nousain and junior Joseph Emmanuel.
Two of CMU's best young runners from last season, sophomores Mark Beckmann and Luke Anderson, will redshirt this season.
"It's going to give me a chance to look at guys and see what their strengths are going to be," Kaczor said. "Anybody who's going to be in uniform is going to have a chance to have impact on the program.
"These young guys have a say in how well we do and there's no wait list. It's `you will compete, you guys will run.'"
The Drenth Memorial is named for the late Jeff Drenth, a member of the Central Michigan University Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame, who died while training in 1986.
Players Mentioned
