Last cross-country meet before team travels out of state

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The Central Michigan cross-country team travels to East Lansing for the Spartan Invitational on Friday, Sept. 16.

It’s the last chance for the men’s team to show the coaches what they have to offer before the team begins to travel.

Coach Matt Kaczor is one of the coaches that the runners will be trying to impress.

“This meet is a sort of close the gap, open people up meet,” said Kaczor. “This gives runners a chance that didn’t get to run in the last meet. Coaches evaluate them to see who will be traveling with us. It’s the last tune up before the key meets like the Norte Dame Invitational begin.”

It’s been known that September is some of the runner’s least favorite part of the season. It’s where the Chippewas can be seen doing their most crucial training of the season.

“We don’t really give them much of a break in September,” Kaczor said. “They always have a big Tuesday that includes the weight room and lots of workouts. We always keep track of their mileage and make sure they are running their workouts.”

Sophomores Nathan Huff and Tecumseh Adams, along with junior Jason Drudge hope that all the hard work pays off at the Spartan Invitational.

“We have a pretty tight knit group of guys,” Adams said. “We can put together a solid seven guys in this race. I just want to be out in the front pack.”

The team is familiar with the course, despite it being an away meet.

“I’ve ran on this course since I was a freshman in high-school,” Huff said. “I’m very familiar with the course.”

The Chippewas are running to prove a point to MSU freshmen that looked at CMU, but chose the Spartans instead.

“We definitely try and show them that they made the wrong decision,” Huff said. “We want to go out and beat them.”