Women finish second, men eighth at MAC championships
The Central Michigan women’s cross country team had its second best finish in nearly a decade at the Mid-American Conference championships.
The Chippewas finished second Saturday to Toledo, which claimed its third title in school history with 44 points. CMU was able to stay just ahead of Miami (OH) with 67 points, while the RedHawks finished third with 69.
“We’re extremely excited about all the hard work they have put in and looking for greater things for them,” said Willie Randolph, CMU director of cross country.
The Chippewas received some great individual performances from one veteran and another by an underclassman as junior Raeanne Lohner and freshman Krista Parks both finished in the top 10.
Lohner took second place overall with a time of 20 minutes, 43 seconds. Parks finished seventh in 21:22.
Randolph said Lohner has been the team’s leader and frontrunner all year long.
“It was the best race I could have run,” Lohner said. “It was really a race for second or third.”
Parks continues to impress her coaches and teammates this season. With her performance as a freshman, she has given herself some conference recognition.
“I don’t think there has been any freshman that has finished that fast and that high in the MAC meet in years,” Randolph said.
The hard work and dedication to get better for the women’s team once again paid off as senior Kylee Kubacki’s 12th place CMU grabbed three all-conference performers. That is the most since 2000. Lohner and Parks earned first team All-MAC honors, while Kubacki received second team All-MAC honors.
“Things are looking very positive,” he said. “Right now we’re just focusing on closing the holes so we can stay in the top five in our conference for years to come.”
CMU’s other finishes included sophomore Maddie Ribant (29th, 22:02.9), senior Danielle Dakroub (30th, 22:05) and junior Veronica Garcia (51st, 22:53).
“I was thrilled to see how everyone ran,” Lohner said. “It was such a big improvement so you can’t complaint too much about the end result.”
Men
The youth of the men’s team showed on Saturday in the MAC Championship.
Without former All-MAC performer Riak Mabil from last year’s squad, the team had to rely on underclassmen to carry the team, and sophomore Jason Drudge did just that.
Drudge. who was not even on a cross country team last year, earned first team All-MAC honors.
Drudge ran his best time of the year, finishing seventh with a time of 24 minutes, 58 seconds.
“He had mission he wanted to accomplish,” Randolph said. “We’re very excited for him and his young future.”
Eastern Michigan won its 15th MAC title in school history, finishing with 66 points. There was a tie for second as Kent State and Miami (OH) both finished with 94 points.
But what proved to be costly for the Chippewas, who finished in eighth place with 143 points, was the large gap between Drudge and the next pair of runners.
The second pack was made up of seniors Cory Arnold and Chris Pankow. who finished 24th (25:30) and 29th (25:37), respectively.
Despite their low finish, Randolph said the team is still headed in the right direction.
“They gave it everything they had,” Randolph said. “We’re trying to align ourselves for next year.”
Junior Jeremy Kiley (40th, 25:47.2) and freshmen Zach Tranter (43rd, 26:02.8) and Nathan Huff (50, 26:23.2) turned in top 50 finishes.
The CMU cross country program will be back in action on Nov. 13 in Rochester for the NCAA Regional meet.
