Men's and women's cross-country travel to MAC championships Saturday
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams travel to Muncie, Ind. Saturday, competing in the Mid-American Conference championships.
The men look to improve on last year’s eighth place finish.
Director of cross-country and track and field Willie Randolph understands what the MAC championships are.
“It means focus and an opportunity to get things done,” he said. “We are just ready to get it done.”
With the weather cooling down, it should be an advantage for CMU.
“Cross-country is a totally different thing,” Randolph said. “Running in the cooler weather is much better than running in the warmer weather. (Runners) thrive in the cooler weather that allows their lungs to get a little bit more oxygen in them.”
Eastern Michigan has had a target on its back for a few years now.
EMU has placed first or second at the MAC Championships every year since 2005.
This year is no different as both coaches and runners look to beat the Eagles.
“Eastern Michigan is definitely one of the top teams year in and year out,” Randolph said. “But we are also a top team that can be competitive at the top. We’ve had some good battles between Central and Eastern over the years that I have been here.”
Junior Jason Drudge is familiar with coming out on top at the MAC Championships.
Last year he earned an All-MAC selection, finishing seventh at the meet.
His eyes are focused on one team and one team only.
“All eyes are on Eastern, the rest of the teams we don’t even care about,” Drudge said. “It’s just us and Eastern and we think of it like that. I think we have enough guys this year to match up with them and beat them.”
Drudge will try and help the team stay together as a pack.
It’s the one thing the Chippewas must do in order to bring home a MAC title.
“We just need to run together, from our first guy to our fifth guy, we can’t have a big separation because that’s where all your points are,” Drudge said. “It’s only nine seconds about 20 guys can get through.” He said.
Assistant coach Matt Kaczor believes that CMU has been dreaming about taking home the MAC title for a while now.
“It would mean something really big,” Kaczor said. “That’s really what we dream for and cultivate for. This is an individual sport like wrestling, but you pull the team together for a championship. This is a huge step in trying to move the program forward.”
Women
All-America honors hang on Kaczor’s wall, but those weren’t the pieces of paper he pointed to.
“This is what it’s about,” he said, pointing to a picture of CMU’s 2004 Mid-American Conference championship ring. “You don’t see a guy wearing a medal on the ribbon around his neck when he’s 35. You’d see him wearing a ring.”
Kaczor said he feels better about the women’s team than he has felt about previous women’s teams. He’s confident about the team performing well in the race.
“They don’t have to do anything spectacular,” he said. “They just have to do what they’re capable of.”
The women’s team enters the weekend ranked No. 10 in the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross-country Coaches Association poll.
One of the main adjustments the Chippewas have made this season is bringing the runners together to the front of the race. Kaczor said the team has improved dramatically over the season in doing so.
“The pack now has started to move closer to the front,” he said. “The four, five and six runners are closer to the one, two and three runners.”
Kaczor said the morale within the team has been as high as ever.
“These ladies have worked with each other real well,” Kaczor said. “It’s been a real good dynamic to work with the women’s team.”
