Cross Country Regional: Men 19th, Women 21st

Friday, November 12

Evansville, Ind.

TBA

Central Michigan University

NCAA Great Lakes Regional

11/12/2021 3:41:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Emily Paupore and Riad Rababeh both placed 85^th on Friday to lead the Central Michigan cross country program at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, hosted by Evansville, at Angel Mounds Cross Country Course.

Paupore came across the finish line in 21:41.2 to lead CMU to a 21^st-place finish among 31 teams in the women's event. Rababeh finished in 31:51.3 as the Chippewa men were 19^th among 30 teams.

Notre Dame won both the men's and women's team titles.

"Overall it was a really good learning experience for us and I think we're heading in the right direction," CMU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jenny Swieton said. "We knew coming that it could be slightly overwhelming just because it's so new; we needed this experience so that we can improve in the future."

Also for the CMU women, Anya Turner placed 90^th in 21:45.7; Lauren Beckmann was 127^th in 22:27.5; Annie Bennett came in 133^rd in 22:32.1; and Maddy Boyd was 141^st in 22:38.5. The race included 216 finishers. Maddy Denner of Notre Dame won the 6K race in 19:55.8.

"I think our inexperience showed a little bit," Swieton said. "Lauren Beckmann is the only person who has ever been to a regional meet of the seven women who ran for us today. We got out really well, but then we just kind of settled in and I think we ran a little fearful of the size of the meet and the caliber of the competition.

"We didn't finish exactly where we wanted to. We learned a lot of lessons that will make us better when we come here in the future. We had to come here and experience it so they know how to handle it and what to do next time."

For the CMU men, Adam Rzentkowski was 94^th in 32:00.0; Owen Howard came in 124^th in 32:43.5; Hunter Fougner placed 129^th in 32:49.3; and Gabe Goosen was 165^th in 33:41.6. Simon Bedard of Butler won in 29:50.0.

"We were really aggressive from the gun and they held on the best that they could," Swieton said. "They gave everything they had today and I'm really proud of the effort."

The men ran a 10K, up from the regular-season 8K distance.

"For most of our men it was their first ever 10K," Swieton said. "Just experiencing that and learning how to handle that extra 2K, especially when a lot of them went through the 8K in a (personal record). It's about managing the fatigue and everything. I think they did well. We want to continue to move up and do better every time."