Oct. 31, 2008
OXFORD, Ohio - Once again, it looks like Mid American Conference Men's Cross Country Championship will go down to the wire. And once again, the Miami Redhawks are projected to be in the hunt.
Three-time defending champion Eastern Michigan was picked just ahead of Miami in the preseason coaches' poll, but the RedHawks are currently ranked seventh in the Great Lakes Region, two spots ahead of the Eagles. That advantage is at least in part to a better finish at the Pre-Nationals meet two weeks ago. Although they ran in separate races, Miami posted a 16th-place finish in the Blue Division and had better times than EMU, which finished 19th in the White Division. Earlier in the year, Eastern Michigan posted a slight advantage at the Notre Dame Invitational.
"I think it should be a very good meet," Men's Cross Country Coach Warren Mandrell said. "Eastern Michigan and ourselves are distinctly at the top of the group, at least through the regular season races. We split with them, so it will be a competitive situation. Our guys are running well and we are healthy so we should be good-to-go. "
Senior Pat Sovacool (Lakewood) won his first three races of the season before top 30 finishes among bigger fields the last two outings. He was 24th at pre-Nationals with a time of 24:07.9. Junior Kevin Silver (Beachwood) has been consistently near the top of the pack as well for the RedHawks, placing 62nd two weeks ago with a time of 24:34.9.
"I am expecting Pat to be near the lead and Kevin should be within the top five or so. A year ago, Miami and Eastern Michigan placed 10 of the top 16 runners in the overall standings."
Eastern Michigan does have one advantage on Saturday as the championship will be run on its home course. The race begins at 11 a.m. at the Eagle Crest Golf Course in Ypsilanti, Mich.
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