Eastern Michigan Athletics
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
2012 MXC Season Features Third Straight MAC Championship
12/18/2012 2:43:00 PM | Men's XC
Two-time individual MAC Champ, Terefe Ejigu, ends prolific EMU career
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The 2012 season was another successful one for the Eastern Michigan University men's cross country team. The Eagles continued to control the Mid-American Conference by claiming their third straight conference title, and EMU's top runner Terefe Ejigu took home his second individual conference crown.
“The 2012 cross country team accomplished most of our goals,” mentioned head coach John Goodridge. “Defense of the 2011 MAC Championship was our primary goal, and the team brought the title back to Ypsilanti. Our other goal was to return to a national level of competitiveness which was accomplished with two strong performances against national level competition at the Notre Dame Invitational and NCAA Pre-Nationals. We look forward to building on these successes.”
Once again, Eijigu led the way for the Eagles throughout the season as he has done throughout his career. Going in the history books as an EMU all-time great, Ejigu capped off his stellar career with three victories and a pair of third-place finishes in the five meets during 2012. The senior started off the season by winning the Spartan Invitational and the Toledo Bubble Buster before standing atop the podium at the MAC Championship to end his career earning first team All-MAC honors.
Behind Eijgu, Daryl Smith provided a major impact in keeping the Eagles as the perennial power in the MAC. The sophomore finished only three seconds behind Eijigu at the MAC Championship, to take runner-up and first-team All-MAC accolades. Smith also posted a top-ten finish to start the season, placing sixth out of 317 runners at the Spartan Invitational.
The team opened its 2012 campaign at the Spartan Invitational, Sept. 14. As mentioned, Ejigu took first, maintaining a 4:56 pace at the meet and crossing the finish line 10 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Also placing in the top 10 for EMU was Smith, who captured sixth place with a time of 25:01. Junior Harry Dixon claimed the 21st spot (25:25), while redshirt sophomore Warren Witchell took 45th (25:48) and freshman Willy Fink placed 49th (25:49) in his first collegiate competition. No team scores were recorded at the event.
After claiming MAC Men's Runner of the Week and MAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Week for his strong start to the season, Ejigu turned in the top time for the second consecutive race this season, finishing first with a time of 19:01.6 at the Toledo Inter-Regional Bubble Buster, Sept. 21. As a team, Eastern Michigan finished second behind nationally ranked Syracuse, turning in 50 points for the Eagles' final mark. EMU runners Smith, Dixon, Witchell and Fink finished 12th, 15th, 18th and 20th to close out the top five scorers for the Eagles in the event.
As Coach Goodridge mentioned, his team faced tough national competition during the season that included back-to-back brutal fields. At the Notre Dame Invitational, the Eagles placed 12th with a team score of 390, as Ejigu kept up his outstanding senior campaign crossing the line in 23:39, only six seconds behind the first place finisher.
At the next meet, the NCAA Pre-Nationals hosted by the University of Louisville, EMU finished the highly competitive red race with 369 combined team points to wrap-up a tenth place tie with Florida, Oct. 13. Ejigu paced the Eagles placing third overall, crossing the line in the men's 8K in 23:15.7. Smith also turned in a strong performance, finishing 38th overall. No. 7 ranked Colorado won the team title with a team score of 78.
Following the merciless two meets, Eastern returned home to host a non-scoring event, the EMU Fall Classic. Five Eagles ran for EMU on the evening, with sophomore Cameron Trinh being the top finisher for EMU with a time of 16:14.0 for fourth place. Austin Lane finished seventh for the Eagles, with William Trice, Jordan West and Clayton Strycker rounding out the Eastern runners who crossed the line 20th, 35th and 51st, respectively.
The next event on the schedule was arguably the biggest meet of the year for Eastern, the MAC Championship, Oct. 27. One of the team's goals was to retain the crown and stay atop of the conference podium. The Eagles did just that, conquering their third consecutive, and 17th overall, Mid-American Conference title in Buffalo at the 2012 conference championship. Individually, Eijigu continued to etch his place in the EMU record books as he paced the Eagle runners once again to earn his second individual title with a winning time of 24:44.5. For Ejigu, it closes out his MAC Championship career with one runner-up finish, two titles, three All-MAC First Team honors and three team MAC Championships.
Not far behind Ejigu was teammate Smith (24:47.8), who followed up his freshman campaign in 2011 where he earned All-MAC second team, with a second place finish at the 2012 Championships as a sophomore. For Smith, the MAC Championship marked the best finish of his career, beating his previous best of sixth place at the 2012 Spartan Invitational which opened the Eagles season. Smith's second place finish meant that it was the first time since 2006 and fifth time overall that the Eagles have gone one-two in the MAC Championship.
Dixon (25:17.8) finished 11th for the Eagles to claim the second team All-MAC honors for the first time in his career. Rounding out the top five scorers for the Eagles were Fink and Witchell, who finished 21st and 24th respectively, with times of 25:30.4 and 25:25.0 in each of their first MAC Championships. Following the meet, Coach Goodridge was named the 2012 Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year, marking the seventh time in his 12 years at EMU he has received the honor bestowed upon him by his peers. The 2012 title marked his eighth MAC Championship, placing him one behind legendary EMU coach Bob Parks, who has nine.
To conclude the season, EMU competed in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by the University of Wisconsin, Nov. 9. Despite the reigning MAC Champion, Ejigu, bowing out of the race following the 8K mark of the 10K race, the Eagles still found a way to finish 13th out of the 30-team field with a team score of 367, three spots higher than one year ago. Ejigu, the Eagles top runner all year, was running well in fifth at the 8K mark with a split time of 24:15, but the standout senior was unable to finish the race due to injury. Smith led the Eagles with a 31:58 mark, good enough for 34th overall out of 204 participants. Dixon followed Smith with a 42nd-place finish, posting a time of 32:13.
2012 was the final cross country season for three EMU seniors: Terefe Ejigu, Josh George and James Hughes.
Ejigu ends his historic career at EMU with seven victories and multiple top-five finishes. In addition to all of his MAC accolades, Ejigu also earned All-Region and USTFCCCA All-Academic honors while running for the Green and White. The Wellington, New Zealand native not only won three meets this year, but he also took first in the Toledo Open and Spartan Invitational his junior year. During his sophomore campaign, Ejigu picked up his first MAC Championship along with winning the Penn State Invitational.
George competed in six races during his time with the Green and White. The Toronto, Ontario native placed a career-best 52nd at the 2011 EMU Fall Classic with a time of 17:12.89.
Hughes ran 18 times for the Eagles during his cross country career. He finished a season-best 40th at this year's Toledo Bubble Buster. Placing 43rd at the 2011 Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championships helped the Eagles to their 16th title in program history. In 2010, Hughes took first at the Titan Invite and finished in 18th-place at the MAC Championship. The Manchester, Mich. native shined for the Eagles in his redshirt freshman seasons when he picked up second team All-MAC honors and was named the team's Most Improved Runner.
“The 2012 cross country team accomplished most of our goals,” mentioned head coach John Goodridge. “Defense of the 2011 MAC Championship was our primary goal, and the team brought the title back to Ypsilanti. Our other goal was to return to a national level of competitiveness which was accomplished with two strong performances against national level competition at the Notre Dame Invitational and NCAA Pre-Nationals. We look forward to building on these successes.”
Once again, Eijigu led the way for the Eagles throughout the season as he has done throughout his career. Going in the history books as an EMU all-time great, Ejigu capped off his stellar career with three victories and a pair of third-place finishes in the five meets during 2012. The senior started off the season by winning the Spartan Invitational and the Toledo Bubble Buster before standing atop the podium at the MAC Championship to end his career earning first team All-MAC honors.
Behind Eijgu, Daryl Smith provided a major impact in keeping the Eagles as the perennial power in the MAC. The sophomore finished only three seconds behind Eijigu at the MAC Championship, to take runner-up and first-team All-MAC accolades. Smith also posted a top-ten finish to start the season, placing sixth out of 317 runners at the Spartan Invitational.
The team opened its 2012 campaign at the Spartan Invitational, Sept. 14. As mentioned, Ejigu took first, maintaining a 4:56 pace at the meet and crossing the finish line 10 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Also placing in the top 10 for EMU was Smith, who captured sixth place with a time of 25:01. Junior Harry Dixon claimed the 21st spot (25:25), while redshirt sophomore Warren Witchell took 45th (25:48) and freshman Willy Fink placed 49th (25:49) in his first collegiate competition. No team scores were recorded at the event.
After claiming MAC Men's Runner of the Week and MAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Week for his strong start to the season, Ejigu turned in the top time for the second consecutive race this season, finishing first with a time of 19:01.6 at the Toledo Inter-Regional Bubble Buster, Sept. 21. As a team, Eastern Michigan finished second behind nationally ranked Syracuse, turning in 50 points for the Eagles' final mark. EMU runners Smith, Dixon, Witchell and Fink finished 12th, 15th, 18th and 20th to close out the top five scorers for the Eagles in the event.
As Coach Goodridge mentioned, his team faced tough national competition during the season that included back-to-back brutal fields. At the Notre Dame Invitational, the Eagles placed 12th with a team score of 390, as Ejigu kept up his outstanding senior campaign crossing the line in 23:39, only six seconds behind the first place finisher.
At the next meet, the NCAA Pre-Nationals hosted by the University of Louisville, EMU finished the highly competitive red race with 369 combined team points to wrap-up a tenth place tie with Florida, Oct. 13. Ejigu paced the Eagles placing third overall, crossing the line in the men's 8K in 23:15.7. Smith also turned in a strong performance, finishing 38th overall. No. 7 ranked Colorado won the team title with a team score of 78.
Following the merciless two meets, Eastern returned home to host a non-scoring event, the EMU Fall Classic. Five Eagles ran for EMU on the evening, with sophomore Cameron Trinh being the top finisher for EMU with a time of 16:14.0 for fourth place. Austin Lane finished seventh for the Eagles, with William Trice, Jordan West and Clayton Strycker rounding out the Eastern runners who crossed the line 20th, 35th and 51st, respectively.
The next event on the schedule was arguably the biggest meet of the year for Eastern, the MAC Championship, Oct. 27. One of the team's goals was to retain the crown and stay atop of the conference podium. The Eagles did just that, conquering their third consecutive, and 17th overall, Mid-American Conference title in Buffalo at the 2012 conference championship. Individually, Eijigu continued to etch his place in the EMU record books as he paced the Eagle runners once again to earn his second individual title with a winning time of 24:44.5. For Ejigu, it closes out his MAC Championship career with one runner-up finish, two titles, three All-MAC First Team honors and three team MAC Championships.
Not far behind Ejigu was teammate Smith (24:47.8), who followed up his freshman campaign in 2011 where he earned All-MAC second team, with a second place finish at the 2012 Championships as a sophomore. For Smith, the MAC Championship marked the best finish of his career, beating his previous best of sixth place at the 2012 Spartan Invitational which opened the Eagles season. Smith's second place finish meant that it was the first time since 2006 and fifth time overall that the Eagles have gone one-two in the MAC Championship.
Dixon (25:17.8) finished 11th for the Eagles to claim the second team All-MAC honors for the first time in his career. Rounding out the top five scorers for the Eagles were Fink and Witchell, who finished 21st and 24th respectively, with times of 25:30.4 and 25:25.0 in each of their first MAC Championships. Following the meet, Coach Goodridge was named the 2012 Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year, marking the seventh time in his 12 years at EMU he has received the honor bestowed upon him by his peers. The 2012 title marked his eighth MAC Championship, placing him one behind legendary EMU coach Bob Parks, who has nine.
To conclude the season, EMU competed in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by the University of Wisconsin, Nov. 9. Despite the reigning MAC Champion, Ejigu, bowing out of the race following the 8K mark of the 10K race, the Eagles still found a way to finish 13th out of the 30-team field with a team score of 367, three spots higher than one year ago. Ejigu, the Eagles top runner all year, was running well in fifth at the 8K mark with a split time of 24:15, but the standout senior was unable to finish the race due to injury. Smith led the Eagles with a 31:58 mark, good enough for 34th overall out of 204 participants. Dixon followed Smith with a 42nd-place finish, posting a time of 32:13.
2012 was the final cross country season for three EMU seniors: Terefe Ejigu, Josh George and James Hughes.
Ejigu ends his historic career at EMU with seven victories and multiple top-five finishes. In addition to all of his MAC accolades, Ejigu also earned All-Region and USTFCCCA All-Academic honors while running for the Green and White. The Wellington, New Zealand native not only won three meets this year, but he also took first in the Toledo Open and Spartan Invitational his junior year. During his sophomore campaign, Ejigu picked up his first MAC Championship along with winning the Penn State Invitational.
George competed in six races during his time with the Green and White. The Toronto, Ontario native placed a career-best 52nd at the 2011 EMU Fall Classic with a time of 17:12.89.
Hughes ran 18 times for the Eagles during his cross country career. He finished a season-best 40th at this year's Toledo Bubble Buster. Placing 43rd at the 2011 Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championships helped the Eagles to their 16th title in program history. In 2010, Hughes took first at the Titan Invite and finished in 18th-place at the MAC Championship. The Manchester, Mich. native shined for the Eagles in his redshirt freshman seasons when he picked up second team All-MAC honors and was named the team's Most Improved Runner.
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