Kaczor wants team to ‘expect more’ heading into Pre-Nationals
As the Central Michigan cross country team prepares for Pre-Nationals on Saturday, Head Coach Matt Kaczor had a message for his team during Wednesday's practice.
“I told them to expect more. Go into a meet expecting you can win. Go into a meet expecting that your teammates can help you out,” Kaczor said. “I want to see something I haven’t seen before. I want to see their fire and just how competitive they are.”
The meet is in Louisville, Kentucky and is a preview meet for teams to prepare for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21. There will be a seeded and unseeded 8K race featuring 80 teams from across the country.
The Chippewas will compete in the unseeded race since they are not ranked in the top ten in their region.
“We will run against teams like Clemson, Missouri and Miami of Ohio,” Kaczor said. “We will face most schools in the MAC (Mid-American Conference) and it will be a good test.”
CMU sat seven of its starters last week at the Oakland Invite to prepare for this meet and will start six of those runners. Senior Breanne Lesnar has recently recovered from an illness and will sit out again to prevent any setbacks.
The men’s side will feature two true freshmen in the starting lineup, with Mark Beckman and Luke Anderson. Neither have which have yet to run an 8K this season in competition.
“You’re relying on true freshmen who haven’t ran an 8K before as being some of your top guys,” Kaczor said. “It always makes your hairline go back.”
The seeded race begins at 6:30 a.m., with the unseeded starting at 7:15 a.m.
