Women third, men fourth at Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championships
CANTON, Ohio — Four Chippewas earned All-Mid-American Conference honors as the Central Michigan men's and women's cross country teams finished in the top five in Saturday's MAC Championships.
The women’s team finished in third place with of 73 points. Sophomore Kirsten Olling earned first team All-MAC honors and led the way finishing in seventh place (21:10.73). Olling, who transferred from Arizona State University, said the team was relaxed and didn’t feel any pressure.
“We were the underdogs coming in, so we had no pressure. Everyone else had pressure,” Olling said.
Junior Kelly Schubert (21:34.38) and Megan O’Neil (21:46.95) were in the next group finishing 15th and 22nd respectively. Schubert earned All-MAC second-team honors. Alyssa Dyer (21:52.44) and Samantha Allmacher (22:02.41) rounded out the top five for the Chippewa women.
“Dyer had the race of the season and Schubert really stepped up,” said Head Coach Matt Kaczor. “My top five (women) didn’t even run last year and it was a great team effort.”
The men’s team finished in fourth place with 100 points led by senior Nate Ghena (24:33.4) who finished in fifth place. Ghena was first team All-MAC for the third straight season. Ghena has now finished in first place for the CMU men in each of his last 12 races.
“It’s a little bittersweet that it’s my last MAC race, but I was happy with how we did,” Ghena said.
Senior Silas DeKalita (25:09.48) finished in 14th place and made the All-MAC second team. Freshman Luke Anderson exceeded expectations and finished in 22nd place (25:33.7). Anderson had to overcome obstacles during the race, but ended up having his best time all season.
“This race was pretty flipping scary, with all the hills and all the up and down.” Anderson said. "Eventually I just said, ‘I’m out here, why don’t I just flipping finish.’ It was nice seeing my team finish well on top of me having the best race of my career.”
Eastern Michigan won both the men’s and women’s championships. It was the sixth straight championship for the Eagle men and the first ever for the women’s team.
Both teams run next on Nov. 13 in Madison, Wisconsin for the Great Lakes Regional.
