Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, November 10
Terre Haute, Ind.
12:15 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Men's Cross Country Set for Great Lakes Regional Championship
11/7/2017 10:06:00 AM | Men's XC
EMU placed fourth in last year's competition, with a team score of 99 points
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Following the Mid-American Conference Championship race, Oct. 28, which saw the Eastern Michigan University men's cross country team capture its eighth consecutive title, the Eagles focus their attention on posting similar results at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship, Friday, Nov. 10, in Terre Haute, Ind. The Green and White will look to compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships as a team for the first time since 2005.
Last year's event saw the Eagles take fourth place with a team score of 99 points. Nick Raymond led the Green and White with a fifth-place finish, earning an individual bid to the NCAA National Championship where he took home All-American honors. This year, the team will be without Raymond, but will have five of the seven runners who competed in the 2016 meet, as redshirt seniors Hlynur Andresson (Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland-Mountain Ridge), Abel Flores (Defiance, Ohio-Defiance), and Mitch Lenneman (River Falls, Wis.-River Falls), as well as seniors Lahsene Bouchikhi (Antwerp, Belgium-Stedelijk Lyceum Paardenmarkt Luchthaven) and Csaba Matko (Racalmas, Hungary-Szechenyi Istvan Gimnazium) are available for competition.
Andresson posted the second-best team finish, placing 16th in 30:44.0. Flores, Bouchikhi, and Lenneman rounded out the top-five Eastern finishers, crossing the line back-to-back-to-back in 25th, 26th, and 27th place, respectively. Additionally, Matko notched a top-50 finish, placing 43rd in 31:38.4.
The Green and White are just two weeks removed from bringing home its 22nd overall and eighth straight MAC title. Andresson led the way for the Eagles, claiming his first individual conference title and helping the squad post the fourth-best team score in conference championship history. Bouchikhi was just behind Andresson, as the two crossed less than three seconds apart from one another to claim the top-two places. Flores ran strong to claim fifth place in 24:41.9, while Lenneman and Austin Wicker (Pinckney, Mich-Pinckney) cracked the top-10 at seventh and ninth, respectively. Owen Day (NRW, Germany-International School of Dusseldorf) was the top freshman in the field of runners, earning the first Freshman of the Year award for an EMU cross country student-athlete. Furthermore, Head Coach John Goodridge's efforts paid off, resulting in the 12th Head Coach of the Year award of his career.
In the most recent regional rankings, which were released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Oct. 30, Eastern found themselves down one rank lower following its conference championship. They currently sit at fifth, behind No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Wisconsin, and No. 4 Purdue. Of these four teams, Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin were ranked inside the nation's top-25 in the most recent polls released by the USTFCCCA, Oct. 31. Michigan is the highest ranked program from the Great Lakes Region, as they shot up three places to No. 10 after winning the Big Ten Championship. Michigan State isn't far behind, as MSU currently ranks 15th in the nation, while Wisconsin rounds out the ranked regional programs at 25th.
The race will be held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind. The women are scheduled to begin their 6,000-meter race at 11:15 a.m., while the men are slated to begin their 10,000-meter at 12:15 p.m.
Last year's event saw the Eagles take fourth place with a team score of 99 points. Nick Raymond led the Green and White with a fifth-place finish, earning an individual bid to the NCAA National Championship where he took home All-American honors. This year, the team will be without Raymond, but will have five of the seven runners who competed in the 2016 meet, as redshirt seniors Hlynur Andresson (Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland-Mountain Ridge), Abel Flores (Defiance, Ohio-Defiance), and Mitch Lenneman (River Falls, Wis.-River Falls), as well as seniors Lahsene Bouchikhi (Antwerp, Belgium-Stedelijk Lyceum Paardenmarkt Luchthaven) and Csaba Matko (Racalmas, Hungary-Szechenyi Istvan Gimnazium) are available for competition.
Andresson posted the second-best team finish, placing 16th in 30:44.0. Flores, Bouchikhi, and Lenneman rounded out the top-five Eastern finishers, crossing the line back-to-back-to-back in 25th, 26th, and 27th place, respectively. Additionally, Matko notched a top-50 finish, placing 43rd in 31:38.4.
The Green and White are just two weeks removed from bringing home its 22nd overall and eighth straight MAC title. Andresson led the way for the Eagles, claiming his first individual conference title and helping the squad post the fourth-best team score in conference championship history. Bouchikhi was just behind Andresson, as the two crossed less than three seconds apart from one another to claim the top-two places. Flores ran strong to claim fifth place in 24:41.9, while Lenneman and Austin Wicker (Pinckney, Mich-Pinckney) cracked the top-10 at seventh and ninth, respectively. Owen Day (NRW, Germany-International School of Dusseldorf) was the top freshman in the field of runners, earning the first Freshman of the Year award for an EMU cross country student-athlete. Furthermore, Head Coach John Goodridge's efforts paid off, resulting in the 12th Head Coach of the Year award of his career.
In the most recent regional rankings, which were released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Oct. 30, Eastern found themselves down one rank lower following its conference championship. They currently sit at fifth, behind No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Wisconsin, and No. 4 Purdue. Of these four teams, Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin were ranked inside the nation's top-25 in the most recent polls released by the USTFCCCA, Oct. 31. Michigan is the highest ranked program from the Great Lakes Region, as they shot up three places to No. 10 after winning the Big Ten Championship. Michigan State isn't far behind, as MSU currently ranks 15th in the nation, while Wisconsin rounds out the ranked regional programs at 25th.
The race will be held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind. The women are scheduled to begin their 6,000-meter race at 11:15 a.m., while the men are slated to begin their 10,000-meter at 12:15 p.m.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's XC
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/ Men's XC
/ Men's XC
/ Men's XC
/ Men's XC
/ Men's XC
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