Out Of The Chute

Friday, August 31

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Central Michigan University

Jeff Drenth Memorial

8/30/2018 5:39:00 PM | MTF, Track & Field

Chippewa Cross Country Hosts Annual Season-Opening Drenth Memorial

By: Andy Sneddon

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan cross country team kicks off the 2018 season on Friday with the annual Jeff Drenth Memorial at Pleasant Hills Golf Club, just south of Mount Pleasant.

It is CMU's lone home meet of the season, and it gives the Chippewa mentors – women's coach Jennifer Swieton and men's coach Matt Kaczor – a good barometer as CMU looks ahead to a schedule that includes invitationals at Michigan State and at Notre Dame, as well as the Pre-Nationals in Wisconsin and the Mid-American Conference Championships at Toledo on Oct. 27.

Among the teams expected to compete on Friday are Michigan State, Alma, Hillsdale, Cleary and Muskegon Community College. The race begins at 10 a.m.

THE POLLS
The Chippewa women were picked to finish seventh in the poll of league coaches; the CMU men were selected to finish third. Twelve teams comprise the women's league; nine comprise the men's.

The Chippewa women finished sixth at the 2017 MAC Championships, while the men were seventh. Eastern Michigan is the defending champion in both genders.

RETURNEES
Megan O'Neil, a senior who earned First Team All-MAC honors with her fifth-place finish in the league championships last year, is the top returnee on the women's side for CMU.

Fellow senior Kirsten Olling, who redshirted a year ago, is also back and joins O'Neil at the front of the CMU pack. Olling earned First Team All-MAC honors in 2015.

On the men's side, the Chippewas return a solid core in juniors Luke Anderson and Mark Beckmann, sophomores Logan Kleam and Conor Naughton, and redshirt freshman Riad Rababeh, who in 2016 was named Mr. Cross Country of Michigan by the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association when he won the Division I state title while competing for Dearborn.

THE KEYS
For the Chippewa men, health is perhaps the No. 1 concern. Senior Joseph Emmanuel was lost for the season with an injury, and Kaczor said he will limit Kleam – a track standout – in the hopes of keeping his legs fresh for later in the season, when the meets take on increasing importance.

"Every guy is going to be counted on," Kaczor said. "I made sure we varied the training as much as we can. The strength training staff has really helped us out. Knock on wood, this group has been pretty healthy."

For the CMU women, it's a matter of the pack getting faster behind O'Neil and Olling. Senior Samantha Allmacher is among the leaders of those who are expected to contribute.

"We have a lot of newbies that can contribute, and I think every week it's going to be a different set of newbies that are going to be in the top five," Swieton said.

OVERALL
Swieton: "My motto is not to put a lot of pressure on freshman, but if they can contribute, then awesome! We have to see how it plays out. I think we have a bright future. I think we see signs every day that we have a chance to be pretty good."

Kaczor: "I think we can be a force, but we're only in August still obviously. We have to be able to compete with Eastern and Miami. We hope to be in the mix."