Cross Country: No Holding Back At Notre Dame

Nick Vuylsteke, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan country team will head to South Bend, Ind. on Friday to race in the 63^rd Joe Piane Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame, at Burke Golf Course.

The CMU women's team is set to run at 1 p.m in the Blue Division, while the Chippewa men are scheduled to run at 4 p.m. in the Gold Division.

The meet comprises 39 teams, including, on the women's side, No. 11 BYU, No. 12 Furman, No. 21 California and No. 22 Notre Dame. On the men's side, the event includes No. 2 BYU and No. 28 Furman.

WHO'S RUNNING?
The last time the Chippewas competed, two weeks ago at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational, they sat out several top-liners, including Logan Kleam and Luke Andreson on the men's side, and senior Megan O'Neil on the women's.

That will not be the case on Friday at Notre Dame, where CMU plans to run all of its top people. The lone exception is sophomore Conor Naughton of the men's team, who, because of a lingering injury, will be a game-time decision, CMU men's coach Matt Kaczor said.

The long-term focus is, of course, the Mid-American Conference Championships, which are four weeks away.

"We just want to make sure we're ready for MAC," Kaczor said. "Kleam and Anderson, they want to run, they're ready to go. They haven't raced a ton yet, so they want to get their feet wet."

STRATEGY
Pack racing, as is almost always the case throughout the season, is the goal for both the Chippewa men and the women.

"Then at a point late in the race, the reigns will be let loose and they'll be able to do what they need to do," Kaczor said. "We're trying to make sure we build that (pack) tightness."

Friday's women's race is a 5K as opposed to the 6K the Chippewas will run at the MAC Championships and that they ran at Michigan State two weeks ago.

"I still want to keep working together as a team for sure because I think we do better that way," CMU women's coach Jenny Swieton said. "The paces will be a little different because it'll be back to a 5K instead of a 6K. So they can go out a little more aggressively. I just want them to turn their brains off and just let the race take them and kind of practice not thinking too much."

PROSPECTIVE
"If we do what we need to do, I can see us being towards the front," Kaczor said of his men's team. "I'm pretty happy with what they've done so far. But, I mean all we've had to run in was Drenth and Spartan and now we get to see where we get to go after Notre Dame. With where we're at and how small of a group we have, I'm hoping that we can be somewhere in the top five. If we can finish in the top five at Notre Dame, I think we'd be moving in the right direction."

"I think the biggest thing for us is that we're trying to take one step forward," Swieton said of her women's team. "If every time we go out there, we just get a little better, then we're going to be where we want to be at the end of the season. I think if we put too many crazy expectations on the outcomes, that's where you put unnecessary pressure on the outcomes on the student-athletes and you don't really set them up for success. So, our goal is to get a little better every day."

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Players Mentioned

Logan Kleam

Conor Naughton