Cross country looks to MAC Championships after solid showing at Pre-Nationals
The Chippewas are peaking at the right time, with five runners posting personal records at Saturday’s Pre-Nationals meet with two weeks until the Mid-American Conference Championship.
Senior Nate Ghena (24:11) along with freshmen Luke Anderson (25:28), Mark Beckman (25:38), Samantha Allmacher (21:46), and Megan O’Neill (21:48) all posted their top times of the season enroute to a 13th place finish for the men in the 8K race, and a sixth place finish for the women in the 6K.
Sophomore Kirsten Olling (21:10) led the women’s team with a 14th place finish, however, it was the tight grouping of the women’s team that secured their top ten finish in this meet with Buffalo being the only other MAC school finishing ahead of them.
The women’s top four of Olling, senior Kelly Schubert (21:45), Allmacher,and O’Neill all finished within a minute of each other. Olling, Schubert, Allmacher and O’Niell all finished among the top 51 runners.
Ghena led the men’s team with a sixth place finish followed closely by fellow senior Silas Dekalita (24:34) in 21st. The men’s top five of Ghena, Dekalita, sophomore Joseph Emmanuel (25:11), Anderson, and Junior Spencer Nousain (25:30) all finished among the top 101 runners, barely a minute a part.
The only MAC schools ahead of the men’s team were Miami (Ohio) in ninth and Ohio in 12th, with the Bobcats finishing just 21 points ahead of Central Michigan.
The meet held on E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky, is a preview for the national meet Nov. 21 at the same location. To participate in that meet, teams must qualify by placing in the top three in their respective regions.
Head Coach Matt Kaczor was not available for comment.
The Chippewas have two weeks to close the gap on the opposing MAC schools before the MAC Championship on Oct. 31 in Akron, Ohio.
