Swift region awaits men’s cross country

• Tweet
• 

Most experts would agree there is more talent in the Great Lakes Region
than in any other region in the country.

CMU’s men’s cross country will find that out first-hand when it
races at 12:15 p.m. in Bowling Green, Ohio this weekend for the Great
Lakes Regional Cross Country Championship.

“Without question, this is the toughest regional in the country,”
said coach Craig Fuller. “It’s going to take a supreme effort from
every guy running to have a chance at a top 10 finish.”

CMU will be running a 10K race against some of the best teams in the
country. 

Six of the 33 teams in the Great Lakes Region are ranked in the
national poll. Those include top ranked Wisconsin, No. 11 Michigan,
No.15 Minnesota, No. 18 Notre Dame, No. 27 Michigan State and No. 29
Butler.

One advantage Central might have is the familiarity with the course.

It is the same course CMU ran on Sep. 16 in the Mel Brodt
Invitational. Unlike that race, however, juniors Andrew Manning and
Matt Loiselle and senior captain Jeff Powers will run.

“Even though the three of us didn’t run here last time, we still are
familiar with the course,” Manning said. “Because of our familiarity
with this course, I think we have a possibility of having a top 10
finish as a team.”

Powers said running a 10 K will be more beneficial than the typical
8K.

“I’d say a lot of us are more long distance runners,” he said. 
“They just seem to run better when there’s an extra 2K in the
race.  We’re definitely ready to run a longer race because it will
allow us to pace ourselves.

The top two teams and top four individuals advance to nationals.

Senior Jay Puffpaff, sophomores Dan Cramer, Sean Anthony and Donnie
Richmond also will  run.