The Eastern Michigan University men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday, Nov. 15 at the Thomas Zimmer Championships Cross Country Course. Both teams were able to finish in the top-10 in their respective competitions.
The women finished in the top-10 for the sixth consecutive season.
The team finished ninth with a score of 283 points. Natalie Cizmas finished at 10th place in the 6K race, crossing the finish line at 20:33.3. Redshirt senior Emily Smith finished the meet in the 47th spot with a time of 21:29.0. Next on the list was senior Karlie Swanson, who finished 60th with a time of 21:42.5.
Junior Madison Distelrath finished six spots behind at 66th with a time of 21:47.0. Sophomore Kaitlyn St. Bernard finished 100th with a time of 22:20.6. Sophomore Emily DeLine finished the race with the 118th spot with a time of 22:39.2 and freshman Esme Davies closed out the race at 139th with a time of 22:56.1.
The EMU men’s cross country also finished top-10 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. It was the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the team finished in the top-10. The team finished the event with a score of 347. Five Eagles set personal-best 10K times at the event.
Sophomore Andy Payne finished in 49th place with a personal-best time of 31:34.5. Following behind on the list at 59th place was fellow sophomore Baldvin Magnusson. Magnusson finished with a career-best time of 31:54.6.
Junior Owen Day finished in 66th place with a time of 32:04.6. Sophomore Chris Devaney and senior Austin Wicker finished at 88th and 89th, respectively. Devaney with a career-best time of 32:30.4. Wicker finished with a time of 32:31.0.
After competing at the event, Cizmas is the only Eastern Michigan athlete to earn an individual bid for the NCAA Championship. She will become the only Eagle in program history to qualify for four straight NCAA championships. Before her career-best performance at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, she posted the second-fastest time at the MAC Cross Country Championship. She then earned first team All-MAC honors.
The Eagles became the first women's cross country program in MAC history to win five consecutive conference titles. Cizmas will become the third NCAA All-American in program history if she finishes in the top-40 in the NCAA Championship.
The NCAA Championships will take place Saturday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. The women’s 6K race is scheduled to start at 11:15 a.m. The men’s 10K will at 12:15 p.m.
