Cross country teams finish in top 10 at Classic
Both cross country teams ran to top-10 finishes in Louisville, Ky. at the Greater Louisville Classic Saturday.
The men’s team finished fourth out of 35 teams Saturday, led by senior Riak Mabil’s 24th-place overall finish (24 minutes, 41 seconds).
“Riak’s so valuable for this team,” said assistant coach Matt Kaczor. “He’s keeping everyone else accountable and wants this team to fight for a conference championship.”
Helping to close the gap were juniors Chris Pankow (33rd, 24:55) and Sammy Kiprotich (50th, 25:10), both finishing within 30 seconds of Mabil. Freshman Tecumseh Adams placed 53rd (25:15).
The Chippewas had an average team time of 25 minutes, 5 seconds, scoring 205 points.
“This was the best pack we’ve had in a while,” Kaczor said.
Rend Lake College sophomore Stephen Sambu (23:33) finished first, 13 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
Host Louisville won the race with an average team time of 24 minutes, 24 seconds, scoring 68 points. The Cardinals placed three top 10 runners.
The only other Michigan schools competing in Louisville, Oakland and Detroit Mercy, finished 12th and 21st overall, respectively.
The women
The women’s team tied for seventh overall with Eastern Kentucky University in the 5K race that included 31 other teams.
Leading the way for the women was junior Melissa Darling, who finished 18th overall with a time of 17:55.
“She ran really well, setting another personal record,” said cross country director Willie Randolph.
Finishing within 30 seconds of Darling was junior Danielle Dakroub in 29th (18:14) and sophomore Holly Anderson in 41st (18:24). Junior Kylee Kubacki came in 48th (18:29).
A surprise for the women came in the way of junior Raeanne Lohner, who finished 80th (18:52).
“She really stuck her nose in there to help this team,” Kaczor said.
Purdue won the women’s race with 88 points.
‘More work to do’
Even with the showings from both teams this weekend, Randolph said there is still more maturity to be had heading into the final, more crucial, part of the season.
“We have a little bit more work to do on both sides. They’re starting to understand what they need to do individually,” he said.
The men and women will compete Friday in Grand Rapids at Michigan Intercollegiates.
