After clinching their 15th Mid-American Conference championship last season, the Eastern Michigan Eagles men’s cross country team expects to be competitive and possibly repeat as
champion.
That is what coach John Goodridge said, since seven athletes are returning from their defending MAC championship team last season, including Terefe Ejigu.
“I believe this year’s squad will be my most competitive squad, and when I say most competitive I mean the most competitive from the standpoint of who’s going to be which when it comes to making team spots,” Goodridge said.
The teams to look out for this season include Central Michigan, Kent State, Akron and Buffalo, Goodridge said.
Darryl Smith, Grzegorz Kalinowski and Cameron Trinh are athletes to watch this season. Smith, who missed most of last year due to illness, and Kalinowski are sophomores while Trinh is a freshman from Oakland, Calif..
This season starts on Sept. 2 at the Bowling Green Triangular in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The Eagles will be looking to repeat at the MAC championships on Oct. 29. They also will be trying to make the NCAA regionals and finals on Nov. 12 and 21.
Women’s preview
On the women’s side, the Eagles will look to build off of a fifth-place finish in the MAC championship.
If the Eagles are going to improve much from where they finished last season, then it should help that junior Courtney Calka is returning. Calka was named to the Cross Country Academic All-District IV second team and the MAC Women’s Cross Country All MAC First Team last season.
This upcoming season the Eagles will have two incoming freshmen, Mary Smock from Wyandotte, Mich., and Victoria Voronko from Moscow, Russia.
The Eagles open their season Sept. 2 at the Toledo Rocket Open in Toledo.
