The season included a 2nd place finish at the Mid-American Conference meet, only ten points away from becoming MAC champions. It was their best finish since taking 2nd in the 2006-07 campaign.

CMU also saw sophomore Tecumseh Adams become the individual MAC champion while becoming the first runner for CMU since 2005 to qualify for nationals. Adams success helped propel the Chippewas to a 7th place finish at regional’s where they beat every MAC school and even Big Ten Conference teams Michigan State, and Purdue.

Assistant coach Matt Kaczor shared his thoughts on some of the highs and lows of the season. Kaczor’s favorite parts of the season included the MAC meet and regional’s.

“Well you definitely have to look at the MAC meet and regional meet,” Kaczor said. “That’s where the guys really turned it on. It showed what this young group was capable of. With them beating every single MAC team and the Spartans from MSU, which we haven’t done in awhile at regional’s. That 7th place finish at regional’s was the best I believe since 2003.”

It was also a treat for Kaczor to see one of his runners make it to nationals to compete for a NCAA championship.

“It’s been exciting with Tec being able to compete at nationals and see what it’s all about,” he said. “We had all the guys their supporting him, it was just a really exciting year for the guys.”

While the end of the season ended very well for the Chippewas, the beginning wasn’t what they were hoping for.

Slow starts at Notre Dame and the Michigan State invitational was some of the low points for Kaczor.

“At the Notre Dame meet I felt like we took a step backwards,” he said. “I was like wow, is this team really ready to show what they are capable of in practice. They had a lackluster performance. The challenging part was getting the freshmen un-scatter brained and keeping them focused on the long season.”

Red-shirt freshmen Ethan Lievense was a key member of the men’s team this year.

His highlights for the 2011 season includes finishing 6th at the Jeff Drenth Memorial, finishing 36th in his first ever colligate 8K at the Spartan invitational and running a personal best 25:19 while finishing 30th at the MAC championship.

Lievense personally enjoyed bonding with his team over the season.

“My favorite part about the season was the comradely with all the guys,” Lievense said. “All these guys are like my family, I see them everyday. Just getting to share this pain and glory with them is something I will never forget.

Some of the pain Lievense mentioned includes the cross-country schedule.

“The hardest part was getting used to the strenuous schedule,” he said “Just waking up early, going to all these meets, and getting used to all the mileage that takes a toll on your body.”

Sophomore Tecumseh Adams was a star for the Chippewas this season. Adams was runner up at the Spartan Invitational, won the MAC individual title, ran career bests of 24:01 for a 8K race and 30:12 for a 10k race. He earned all regional’s honors and qualified for nationals.

Adams season was full of highlights and accolades but his favorite thing was the competition.

“There are so many people racing, you get on the track and race against only 8-14 guys,” Adams said. “There is just more competition, and the terrain is pretty cool too.”

The terrain was something Adams enjoyed but it was also frustrating for him at times during the season.

“The hardest thing was running the 8k’s because that’s pretty far, and the terrain can be frustrating,” he said. “It is also a lot harder to win in cross-country.”

Although Adams did plenty of winning.

Redshirt freshmen Kyle Stacks was able to race in his first colligate 8k and 10k races this season. He took 31st at the MAC championships while finishing the 8k a career best 25:20. At regional’s Stacks finished 32nd while running a career best 31:06 10k.

Stacks aided Central Michigan’s improvement throughout the season. It also happened to be his favorite part.

“My favorite thing especially about this season was the improvement that we all went through and that you can see.” Stacks said.

The mileage wore out every runner, and it was the most challenging part for Stacks.

“The challenging part was adjusting to all the mileage that we were doing, it was just the workload.” He said.

Sophomore Nathan Huff made strides to become one of the top runners for the Chippewas at the end of the season.

Huff finished 17th at the MAC championships running the 8k in a career best of 24:59 and finishing 80th at the 10k regional’s with a career best of 32:06.

The team showed good chemistry this year and a strong bond, one that Huff enjoyed over the season.

“What I liked most about cross-country would probably be the competition and my teammates here,” Huff said. “My favorite moment was the MAC meet, it was disappointing that we took 2nd instead of 1st but it gave us a reason to want to work harder and win it next year.”

The men’s cross-country team doesn’t graduate a single person this year, and all runners will be back.

The success of this season makes the men’s team favorites to win the MAC title for next year’s cross-country season.

Adams was the first runner since 2005 to qualify for Nationals and the first runner under Director of cross-country and track Willie Randolph.

Randolph said Adams has showed growth throughout the season and can now be considered one of the best runners in the country.

“I’m very happy for Tec to finish 69th,” Randolph said. “He has gone through different phases this past season and has shown a lot of growth during that time. He is one of the best runners in the country and I’m excited for the young man.”

Adams wanted to finish in the top 30, which would have made him an All-American. Randolph and Adams both thought this was one of the fastest races that Adams raced in.

Adams finished 13th out of 50 sophomores at Nationals giving him a bright future to dominate his class.

Randolph knows Adams is shooting for higher goals.

“It’s good to hear things like that about Adams being part of the best in his class,” Randolph said. “We got him to pay attention to what he needs to focus on and now he isn’t just trying to be the best in his class, he is trying to be the best runner period.”

Central Michigan is home to the fastest runner in the state of Michigan.

Adams beat every runner from Michigan at Nationals, including the each University of Michigan’s cross-country runner.

Adams ran a 30:33 on the 10k course.

Randolph was excited for Adams to have that accomplishment under his belt.

“It’s pretty exciting for Tec,” Randolph said. “There are really good runners in all divisions and conferences. Adams really gets it done when he is staying focused.”

Adams had to battle 253 other runners along with the weather.

The course was wetted-down from the constant misting rain.

Randolph thought Adams did well against the weather conditions.

“I think the course effected everyone,” Randolph said. “I think it didn’t effect Tec as bad as it could have. I’ve seen that course in way worse conditions than that, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”

Randolph said that Adams is now be a credible leader instead of just a verbal one.

“Tec has always been a leader during training,” Randolph said. “He can be credible in his physical and now mental attributes.”

Adams will focus on indoor track during the winter before track and field comes in spring.

Randolph thinks Adams is an elite athlete, but has more steps to take to become one of the best in the country.

“I think he can become one of the best in the country if he is doing every workout during the summer and get his mind set on everything on and of the course,” Randolph said. “He’ll need to be consistent for training and listening. He’ll then be able to care of business.”

The team finished the season No. 7 in the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross-country Coaches Association poll. The only MAC team that finished ahead of Central Michigan was Toledo, ranked No. 5.

CMU director of track and field and cross-country Willie Randolph said the women’s cross-country team was one of the best cross-country teams CMU has ever had. The Chippewas placed second at the MAC championships for the second-straight year, something that no other CMU cross-country team, men’s or women’s, has ever achieved.

The team finished eighth out of 33 teams in the regional race on Nov. 12. None of the runners qualified to run in Nationals.

Randolph thinks its MAC championship team is closer than ever since the Chippewas return all but a handful of their roster next season.

“Even though we fell short of a MAC championship, we did a lot of things that we’ll bring back next year,” Randolph said.

Junior runner Charnele Lyons said it’s weird to think about the complexion of the team changing with the leaders, Raeanne Lohner and Holley Anderson leaving the program.

“It’s going to be hard to lose Raeanne and Holly,” Lyons said. “I definitely counted on Raeanne and Holly a lot to help me.”

Randolph said he feels confident that those returning next year can take over as leaders.

“We have some runners who can step up and fill those roles,” he said.

With the season over, the team was given last week off to rest before training for long-distance in track and field this spring.

Randolph plans a get-together for the team Dec. 8 after the runners’ final exams are finished.

“The biggest thing is to get them rested,” he said. “There’s no real time to celebrate, yet.”

Lyons said the week off was her first time off from cross-country workouts since May.

“I texted (assistant cross-country coach Matt) Kaczor and said it was the first time I said I want to work out.”

Sophomore Tecumseh Adams has an opportunity to finish one of the best seasons by a Chippewa in recent memory Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

“I was smiling even before I crossed the finish line,” Adams said about Regionals last week. “It was a pretty exciting moment for me. I knew I was one of the top guys in the region this year. I just had to execute and I think I did pretty well.”

Adams gives credit to director of cross-country and track Willie Randolph and assistant coach Matt Kaczor for helping him during the season.

“We’ve been working hard all year, doing workouts, doing mileage and stuff,” Adams said. “Kaczor told me if I just stay calm and collected I’ll be there at the end.”

Adams is the first runner under Randolph to qualify for Nationals.

Randolph is excited for Adams to have a chance for rewards based on his hard work and acknowledged that it’s exciting to have a runner qualify for Nationals under him.

“It feels pretty good, especially when the athlete is excited to be going to Nationals also,” Randolph said. “He has a chance for all the hard work he put in to be rewarded.”

Emotions run high for many athletes on the championship stage, and Randolph is trying to predict how Adams will feel heading into the race.

“He will be outside his comfort zone at Nationals,” Randolph said. “I think he will feel a mix of aggression and excitement, which he should. I think he is just going to go in there and do it.”

Adams is receiving a lot of support in his quest to Nationals. Not only are his coaches and teammates supporting him, but CMU’s alumni are as well.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Adams said. “I know a lot of the alumni are supporting me and supporting this team. It’s just an exciting feeling to get someone there.”

Adams’ family will also be cheering him on.

“My brother was at the last meet and he was pretty excited,” Adams said. “I saw him running around. I called my mom right after, but she had already known. She is coming to Nationals so I’m pretty excited about that.”

Adams isn’t satisfied with making it, though. He still has goals he wants to achieve.

“I want to hang with the top 40 at the beginning,” he said. “All this hard work is paying off. I’m excited about the next few years. Hopefully I’ll become All-American this year.”

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.”

He has lettered four years in cross-country and track in high school.

He was a three-time all-state in cross-country, three-time Lansing State Journal Dream Team selection, two-time team state champion in cross-country, five-time all-state in track as well as a seven-time league champion. He also was part of the National Honor Society and class president.

But there is somebody close to him whose resume outdoes his.

With all these accomplishments already under his belt, who could possibly best him?

His mother.

Karen Lutzke has a long list of accomplishments that begins with her time running at Michigan State University. Karen was a two-time All-American and won a Big Ten Conference championship.

In 1999, Karen brought her success to CMU as an assistant coach. From 2003 to 2009, Karen served as the head coach for women’s cross-country and track. Karen coached CMU to three Mid-American Conference titles, and coached 30 All-Mid-American Conference runners.

“She was an All-American at Michigan State, even one time for me and I would be pretty happy with that,” he said. “It’s something I look at and go ‘Hey, I have some of these genetics, why can’t I do one of these things?’”

Matt’s love for running began when he first saw the 1996 Olympics.

“I remember seeing the runners and thinking that it was so cool and I wanted to be like those guys,” he said.

Karen has ties with the Olympics. Karen was an Olympics trail qualifier in 1984 and 1988.

As a child, Matt has memories of growing up on the track and cross-country courses, helping his parents recruit or rake sand pits.

Karen remembers seeing her son’s talent first start showing during a road race.

“I think he was eight when he ran a road race,” she said. “They had a kid run one mile every June and he would run that,” Karen said. “He was good at it and he would like to do it. With some kids, when they do fun runs they will walk, jog, walk-jog, but with Matt, he would work hard. We knew he was going to be good at running.”

While growing up at Williamston High School, Matt enjoyed the road races.

Racing Mom

It was one of these road races back in middle school where Matt first achieved one of his goals: Beating his mother in a race.

“I remember back in middle school, she was kicking my butt and that was always my goal, to get closer and closer every time,” Matt said. “I just remember this one race, I didn’t even see her. ‘I was like wow, you must have been really far ahead of me.’ She told me, ‘No I had a bad race and you beat me.’”

Matt hasn’t lost to his mom since.

“I don’t think she has beaten me since, but she had a good number of years where she was beating me,” he said.

Karen won three MAC Coach of the Year honors at CMU.

Her top target for the class of 2008 was her son.

“His father and I encouraged him to go where he wanted to go and at the same time there were a lot of advantages for him to go to CMU,” Karen said. “I don’t think he would have been happy going to another MAC school, as far as Central goes, I think it was a good choice for him.”

As a college athlete, many things can stress out a runner.

Matt knows he only needs to ask his mom for advice when these things happen.

“I ask her a lot of questions, if I’m injured or have aches and pains, usually she has had it before,” he said.

CMU assistant coach Matt Kaczor loves the fact that Matt came from a coaching family.

When Matt came to CMU as a freshman, Kaczor knew exactly what he would be  — a coach’s dream.

“It’s real simple with him, he understands the nuts and the bolts of game planning of what he needs to be doing to get himself ready,” Kaczor said. “He is probably the easiest guy to coach, so that’s what makes it beneficial.”

Like mother, like son, both Lutzke’s share the same running traits.

Although Karen is quick to point out that Matt is more stubborn than her.

“We are both very competitive, but he is a lot more stubborn than I am,” she said. “But sometimes you have to be stubborn. If he wants to do something, he is going to do it. He is a good leader, a good role model and he makes good choices. Running is not just about being on the course, it’s about lifelong choices.”

Running isn’t something the Lutzke’s share as a hobby, it’s a passion and a bond.

“I think it’s really helped because we have running in common,” Karen said. “Not just about us running, but other people, when we watch it on TV or read about it.”

Since 2009, Karen has moved on to become the head coach of Olivet College’s women’s cross-country and track teams.

Matt, now a junior, is one of CMU’s top runners.

He still strives for that All-American status that his mother holds as CMU heads into the MAC Championships this weekend.

Matt knows that choosing CMU was one of the best choices he’s made.

“I like my coaches and the teammates are pretty much the reason I came here, he said. “I saw guys that wanted to win and a program that wanted to succeed.”

It would be a foreshadowing of how the Central Michigan men’s cross-country team finished. It finished 17th out of 35 teams and first among Mid-American Conference schools that included Ohio and Toledo.

Ohio finished 19th and Toledo 34th.

Adams led his teammates with a time of 24:33.

“It excites me when you get a freshman or sophomore with talent like that,” Randolph said. “It’s even more exciting when they can maintain that level. Adams is having fun and it’s our job to manage the pressure that comes with the talent.”

Juniors Jason Drudge and Matt Lutzke finished 92nd and 111th.

Randolph acknowledged that Lutzke really came through for the team.

“Matt Lutzke was in a really tough position with two miles left,” Randolph said. “He really came through after battling some things the past couple of weeks. We finished 17th, but it could have been a lot worse if not for Matt.”

Redshirt Freshmen Kyle Stacks and Tanner Pesonen finished within seconds of each other at 25:59 and 26:01. They placed 131st and 137th.

Stacks was a key member of the team in just his second collegiate meet.

“Coach Kaczor is doing a good job of working with Kyle and building his mind and body confidence,” Randolph said. “Stacks will be a key maker or breaker for us in the future.”

While pleased by placing first among MAC schools, Randolph’s focus was already on the MAC Championship meet in 13 days.

“It only matters for us if we beat the MAC teams at the next meet,” Randolph said. “We need to beat Eastern Michigan for the team to get really excited. We have 13 days to start putting the mental pieces together because the physical pieces are already there.”

It scored 329 points in the race. Senior runner Raeanne Lohner led CMU and finished in 30th place. She finished with a time of 21:35.

The Chippewas average time was 22:09.

Florida State won first place with a score of 46. Three of its seven runners finished in the top-10.

The Chippewas next race is the Mid-American Conference Championships race Oct. 29 in Muncie, Ind.

To help the Central Michigan women’s cross-country team run better in the Pre-Nationals race Sunday, Kaczor tried a new approach.

For five minutes, Kaczor played music and told them to lay on the track with their eyes closed and visualize themselves running well.

The practice and preparations are aimed for the the Pre-National race at 11:40 a.m. on Sunday in Terra Haute, Ind. 

The Chippewas enter the weekend ranked No. 9 in the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association polls. They are unranked in the USTFCCCA national poll.

Kaczor said he is looking for junior Maddie Ribant and sophomore Krista Parks to lead CMU.

“I’d like to see how they do,” Kaczor said. “I’d really like to see them put it together this weekend. I believe they can.”

Kaczor said he also expects senior runners’ Raeanne Lohner and Holly Anderson to perform well.

“I have no doubt in my mind that those two can put together great races through the end of the season,” Kaczor said. “They’ve been putting together really good workouts and racing well.”

Junior runner Charnele Lyons, who was redshirted last year, ran in the Pre-Nationals two years ago in her sophomore year of eligibility. She said the team is poised to run well in the race.

“We just really need a fifth runner and we have a couple girls that have the potential to do really, really well,” Lyons said. “We’re enjoying running together, it’s such a good feeling. It feels like nothing can bring us down.”

The results of the Pre-Nationals, Mid-American Conference Championship and the NCAA Regionals determines who advances to the NCAA Nationals on Nov. 21. The Chippewas No. 9 rank is their second-highest of the season. They were ranked No. 7 in the pre-season polls.

Kaczor said the rank is unimportant to him at this point of the season. He is more focused on the weekend and the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 12.

“To me, it’s only a ranking, so the only thing that matters to me is how we do on Nov. 12,” he said.

The men’s and women’s teams were pulled out of the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships to rest for this weekend.

“We were just trying to keep everyone healthy and get ourselves ready for Pre-Nationals,” Kaczor said.

Lyons said that she is not worried about the weekend.

“We’re going to have a really good weekend,” she said. “We have a lot of confidence.”

The Chippewas haven’t raced since Sept. 30 at Notre Dame because the team pulled out of the Michigan Intercollegiate Championship last weekend because of injuries.

Assistant coach Matt Kaczor gave a preview of what to expect.

“It’s a preview of our national course,” Kaczor said. “It’s a grouping of a lot of the top teams in the nation that will be there. It gives us a chance to see how we stack up on the men’s side with us having such a young group. It’s exciting for us.”

CMU placed 5th out of 20 teams at the Notre Dame invitational.

Kaczor admits that the Chippewas haven’t been at their best yet.

“They are very hungry after waiting,” he said. “After not having the greatest race or races, they have had to stew on that for longer than they would have wanted to. Hopefully it will turn out to be a benefit on Sunday.”

Sophomore Nathan Huff is one of the runners that can’t wait to get back on course.

“We are really hungry,” Huff said. “We are really excited and ready to race. We’ve been training really hard and we just want to get out and show everyone what we can do.”

One Chippewa expected to contribute is redshirt freshmen Kyle Stacks.

“Our last meet didn’t go as well as we wanted it to, but we’ve been having a good week of working out,” Stacks said. “I think we are ready to show everyone else what we are made of and what we can do.

Stacks is only racing in his second colligate meet after returning from injury, but holds high expectations for himself.

“I want to be back where I was last year, which was the front of the pack,” he said. “I’d like to be able to push more of my teammates and drop my time.”

Toughness, commitment, and challenging is how Huff summed up the season so far.