Miami University
MAC Championship
Patterson, RedHawks Each Place Third at MAC Championship
10/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 30, 2010
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Individual Results
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The two-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Miami women's cross country team came up short in its attempt for a three-peat, settling for third place Saturday morning at the 2010 MAC Championship held at windy Pine View Golf Club and hosted by Western Michigan. Senior Rachel Patterson garnered First-Team All-MAC accolades while junior Maggie Bingham and redshirt junior Kelley Miller were Second-Team All-MAC honorees.
The RedHawks finished with 69 points, just being edged out by Central Michigan, who was the runner-up with 67 points. Toledo ran away with the MAC title, winning with just 44 points, led by individual champion Ari Fisher, who won the crown for the second straight year, doing so in 20:05.8. CMU's Raeanne Lohner was the individual runner-up in 20:43.7.
"We ran like we expected the championship to just be handed to us, and it showed," a disappointed head coach Kelly Phillips said, as her RedHawks ranked fifth in the Great Lakes Region entering Saturday.
Patterson (Rochester, Mich.) took third overall in a personal-best time of 20:48.4, which is the second-best 6K time in school history. She also earned third at the league meet as a sophomore and is now a three-time All-MAC performer. Bingham (Carmel, Ind.) was Miami's second finisher for the first time in her career, as she placed 11th in a career-best 21:20.5 to repeat as a Second-Team All-MAC selection. Miller (Dublin, Ohio) crossed the line six ticks later in 13th place.
Redshirt sophomore Jillian Dickman (Madison, Ohio) had a strong race for Miami as well as the fourth RedHawk finisher in 18th place in 21:36.9, a personal best. Senior Amanda Mirochna (Naperville, Ill.) rounded out Miami's scoring five in 24th place after finishing third overall at last year's conference meet.
Ohio was fourth behind Miami in the team standings with 89 points while Eastern Michigan was fifth with 157. The host Broncos took sixth while Akron and Bowling Green were seventh and eighth. Kent State, Ball State, Buffalo and Northern Illinois capped off the final team standings, respectively.
Freshman Kate Carter (Ann Arbor, Mich.) had a strong league debut, crossing sixth for Miami in 26th place in 21:55.4 but senior Katie Lenahan (Cincinnati, Ohio), a two-time Second-Team All-MAC runner, struggled Saturday, finishing in 40th place.
"By the time the other girls realized Amanda and Katie were having off days, it was too late for us to make up the ground," Phillips said. "Hopefully we can redeem ourselves in two weeks."
The RedHawks return to the course at the Great Lakes Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Rochester, Mich. where they will try to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship.
--MURedHawks.com--
