Women's cross country travel to MSU for Invite
The women’s cross country team has plenty of momentum with seven top 10 runners at the Jeff Drenth Memorial two weeks ago in Mount Pleasant.
CMU will take part in the Spartan Invitational, hosted by Michigan State University, at 1 p.m. today at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing. Other schools competing include the University of Michigan, Saginaw Valley State University and Grand Valley State University.
“Our first meet was basically to get their feet wet and find out where they’re at in their training,” said cross country coach and director Willie Randolph. “Now, we’re trying to find out who are our top five.”
Junior Melissa Darling (18:49) was the highlight of the Jeff Drenth Memorial, finishing in first place.
“We have some really good girls that are running real well right now,” Randolph said. “(Melissa) Darling is obviously one of our leaders in our group, and we expect a lot of other girls to step in and close that gap so we can see exactly where we’re at scoring potential-wise later on in the season and going into the MAC championships.”
Today’s meet will be a 6K, normal for women’s Division I competition, and it will provide for a better forecast of how the team looks against a variety of competition, said assistant coach Matt Kaczor.
“Now we’ve got to see how we’re going to mix it up with more than just Michigan State,” Kaczor said. “We’re going to try and establish ourselves. This is our first experience together in one (6K), and we’re going to see where we can go.”
Senior Sarah Squires remains out with injury and will not compete this weekend. The coaching staff anticipates her return to competition later in the season.
“She’s coming along,” Kaczor said. “She’s able to run most days now pain-free. Now it’s just getting a base underneath her before we try and put her under any workouts.”
