The Eastern Michigan University’s men’s and women’s cross country team concluded their season Friday, Nov. 11, at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The men’s team placed 12th overall while the women’s team finished in 15th place.
“It was a solid day,” said Director/Head Coach Sue Parks, via EMUAthletics. “Both our men and women were missing a key person from our MAC lineups and that impacted our team finishes but I’m proud of the effort we put forth.”
Toby Gaulter earned his second-straight All-Region honors with a 22nd place finish.
“The guys ran hard today and that’s all we could ever ask,” said Head Coach Mark Rinker. “ I was proud of Toby getting his 2nd All-Region honor.”
The EMU men’s team battled to a 12th-place finish with 381 points. They were paced by two top-50 runs by Gaulter (22- 30:29.1) and Baldvin Magnusson (43rd- 30:59.8).
Sophomore Linus Venneman (74th - 31:39.1) and senior Eddie Zuercher (99th - 32:08.5) finished in the top 100.
The women’s team placed 15th out of a 31-team field and were led by Faith Rono, who crossed the finish line in 20:58.9, good for 37th place.
“Faith Rono had a strong race to lead our women,” said Parks. “It was a successful season for us but we’re hungry for more and I know that we’ll be very motivated to take a big step forward next fall.”
Three other eagles were able to place in the meet’s top 100. This lineup included seniors Esme Davis (92nd - 22:07.1) and Tabatha Walford (97th - 22:10.8)
“We would have liked to place higher but the Great Lakes Region is tough, you have to be at 100%,” said Parks. “Our athletes worked hard this season and kept fighting until the very end.”
With neither team finishing in the top-two, both squads will wait to see if the NCAA picks the EMU team or individual for the NCAA Cross Country Championship.
The Selection show will be held on Nov. 12, at 5 p.m. E.T.
Eighteen teams are automatically qualified for the championship races in addition to 13 at-large teams bringing the total number to 31.
For updates on the EMU cross country and track and field teams, check out EMUEagles.com or follow the Eagles on Instagram or Twitter @EMUXC_TF or on Facebook, @EMUXCTF.
