Cross Country Readies for MAC Championships

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University cross country programs are set to race at the Mid-American Conference Championships, Saturday, Oct. 28, hosted by Bowling Green State University. The race will take place at the Mel Brodt Cross Country Course in Bowling Green, Ohio.

"Our goal is to put together our best team race of the season. We're looking forward to an exciting competition on Saturday," said Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Sue Parks.

"Doing well at the MAC {meet} is always our goal, the guys are excited and motivated to compete on Saturday," said Men's Cross Country Head Coach Mark Rinker.

Meet Information
Fans can follow along in-race via live stats with final results being posted once all races have concluded. The MAC record book, course maps, competing teams and a streaming link for the races can be found here.

Last Time Out
The Eagles last competed at the EMU Fall Classic at Hudson Mills Metropark in nearby Dexter, Mich. There was no team scoring, however many Eastern harriers ran well as individuals.

Destiny Rose (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Champion) stepped up to lead the Eastern women in the rough conditions as the freshman ran a 6:27 mile pace, finishing 41st in 20:01.2. The Eagles aimed to stay close to one another as Kiera Hansen (Freeland, Mich/Freeland) finished four spots behind Rose, placing 45th 20:15.7, while Kayla Muir (Ida, Mich./Ida/Stautzenberger College) placed 51st in 20:24.5, completing her first collegiate 5k.

Along with Muir, Eastern Michigan newcomers Sophie Emin, Maleah Scott (Farmington, Minn./Farmington), Tijana Japundzic (Belgrade,Serbia/Technical School "New Belgrade"), and Eva Orlich each tucked their first college 5k under their belts, respectively.

In his first race of the season Carson McCoy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Deer Lakes) paced the Eagles with a 5:19 pace, eventually finishing the mud-drenched course in 16:30.9, placing 16th as an unattached athlete. Following suit with the women, the men ran in a pack with freshman Carson Vanderschaaf (Marquette, Mich./Marquette Senior) finishing 18th in 16:35.4, followed by Ty Dailey (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) (20th – 16:44.9), and Aaron Schwieterman (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) (22nd – 16:48.5) rounding out Eastern's top-four harriers.

With McCoy, EMU milers Brady Messer (Mason, Ohio/Mason) and Ronald Brandal (Huron, Ohio/Huron) both respectively finished their first race of the season as unattached competitors.

EMU's MAC Championships
The Eastern Michigan men's program has captured the most conference championships in the MAC with 25 since 1972. Eastern's men last won the conference the 2021 with former Eagle Baldvin Magnusson finishing first individually, becoming the first Eagle harrier to capture the individual MAC title since 2017 when Hlynur Andresson did so. The Eagles rattled off eight straight conference titles from the 2010-17 seasons, all under former Head Coach John Goodridge, who totaled 13 in his Eastern Michigan career.

Rinker has one MAC title and MAC Coach of the Year award, both coming in the 2021 season.

The Eagles' women total five conference titles since the 1980 season, with all five coming consecutively from 2015-19. The Eagles last had an individual finish first at the conference meet in 2018 when Natalie Cizmas finished first enroute to EMU's fourth straight conference crown. Parks won the MAC as an individual runner in her college years in three consecutive seasons from 1976-78 and has collected six total coach of the year awards, winning five with Eastern (2015-19) and one with Ball State University (2003).

Up Next
The Eagles will continue post-season action with the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships, Friday, Nov. 10, in Madison, Wisc. More details regarding the regional meet will be released soon.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ronnie Brandal

Ty Dailey

Sophie Emin

Kiera Hansen

Tijana Japundzic

Baldvin Magnusson

Kayla Muir

Eva Orlich

Destiney Rose

Aaron Schwieterman

Maleah Scott

Carson Vanderschaaf

Eastern Michigan Athletics