CMU men’s cross-country finishes fifth in Notre Dame Invitational

The Central Michigan men’s cross-country team took fifth place out of 20 teams in its division at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday.

The Chippewas had higher expectations, but back spasms forced junior Matt Lutzke to leave the race. However, he will return for Friday’s meet in Hillsdale.

“The good thing is we know we can do a lot better,” said head coach Willie Randolph. “It was tough when Lutzke was forced to leave the race. It was very windy and cold, which made his back act up. The team did a good job pulling together without our number two or three runner.”

The men’s team finished with 61 points. Grand Valley State took first place with 40 points.

Randolph thought the team did a solid job rather than basing it off individual performances.

“The men’s group did a solid job racing today,” he said. “There wasn’t anyone performance that stood out by itself. Tecumseh Adams was out in front the whole race and helped lead. That is something that needs to happen.”

Adams finished with a time of 25:11. Junior Jason Drudge placed second on the team with a time of 25:37.

CMU sophomore Nathan Huff and freshman Kyle Stacks both finished at 25:58.

Redshirt freshman Ethan Lievense finished with a time of 26:04 to round it out for the Chippewas.

CMU’s underclassmen runners understood the honor of running at Notre Dame, but it came along with jitters.

“You have a lot of underclassmen on the team,” Randolph said. “Jitters may or may not have affected some of them. We are learning on who matches up with who, athlete to athlete. It doesn’t matter what the front of the jersey reads.”

The underclassmen make up 14 of 18 runners.

Randolph believes the team is starting to grow up and realize its potential.

“They are becoming dedicated and are putting in a lot of hard work,” Randolph said. “It’s just getting their bodies to do what they are training them for.”