Cross country director Willie Randolph expected more out his teams Saturday.

The men’s cross country team finished 27th out of 35 teams at the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., with an average time of 25 minutes, 34 seconds. The women finished 31st out of 37 teams.

“We got a lot of things done, but we didn’t get a lot of things done,” Randolph said. “It wasn’t a total team effort … It was disappointing because we know we’re a better team.”

Senior Riak Mabil said the team can learn from this week’s struggles.

“We didn’t perform as expected, but it was another learning week,” he said. “It’s in the past now; we need to focus ahead.”

The men placed 37th out of 40 teams in Terre Haute in 2008, while the women finished 38th of 41.

Mabil, who continues to run with a sore Achilles tendon, led the men, finishing 77th out of 237 runners with a time of 24:52. His time was a full 47 seconds faster than his performance at the same event in 2008, where he placed 191st overall.

Junior Sammy Kiprotich, the team’s top finisher in 2008 and competing in only his second meet this season, finished in 136th place (25:32).

Freshman Tecumseh Adams finished third for the team (142nd, 25:34).

Following him was junior Chris Pankow (156th, 25:45), senior Jacob Korir (180th, 26:04), junior Adam Smith (186, 26:09) and sophomore Matt Lutzke (198th, 26:21).

Stanford took first in the men’s race with an average time of 23:51. All seven Stanford runners placed before Mabil, CMU’s top runner.

Sophomore Travis Gere competed in the 8K open race, finishing 82nd (27:39).

The women

Junior Melissa Darling paced the women for the third time this season.

Darling placed 92nd overall with a time of 22:01.
Sophomore Holly Anderson came in second for the team with a 147th overall finish (22:36), earning the praise of her coach.

“She really stepped up and competed,” Randolph said.

Juniors Kylee Kubacki (168th, 22:52), Raeanne Lohner (177th, 22:57) and Danielle Dakroub (191st, 23:13) followed Darling and Anderson. Lohner and Dakroub competed in Pre-Nationals last year.

Closing out for the women was senior Emily Van Wasshenova (197th, 23:16) and junior Brittany Dixon (239th, 24:24).

Colorado finished first in the division race with an average team time of 20:52. Jenny Barringer placed first overall (19:50) and, like the men, all of Colorado’s team placed before CMU’s top runner, Darling, finished.

Both teams will spend the next two weeks preparing for their biggest meet of the season, the Mid-American Conference Championships on Oct. 31 in Athens, Ohio.

“We will run at the MAC Championships more internally with our eyes on the prize,” Randolph said.

E-mail the author: Aaron McMann