Miami University
Penn State National Meet
Miami Men Place Ninth at Penn State National Meet
10/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 14, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In a driving rain storm the Miami University men's cross country team sloshed its way to a ninth-place finish Friday morning at the Penn State National Meet on the muddy Penn State Blue and White Golf Courses. The 5.2-mile meet served as a final tune-up before the Mid-American Conference Championships.
The RedHawks totaled 248 points to finish ninth in a 21-team field. The host Nittany Lions won the race with 47 points while Grand Valley State was the runner-up with 55 points. Duquesne (77), Lehigh (142) and Montana State (177) rounded out the top five. MAC foe Buffalo was sixth (178) but Miami did beat fellow MAC rival Akron, who took 10th with 264 points.
"We did okay, nothing wonderful. I was hoping going in we would finish somewhere between sixth and 10th but ideally a little better than ninth," head coach Warren Mandrell said. "Not having (David) Eichenberger was a big blow for us. That was a significant change and may have cost us a few places in the team standings."
Sophomore Dave Wing (Naperville, Ill.) was Miami's top finisher for the first time in his career, clocking 27:26 to place 31st. Junior Jarrod Eick (Hartville, Ohio) crossed just three ticks later, claiming 33rd place. Eick has been Miami's first or second finisher in every race so far this year.
"Wing was a good 20 to 30 places behind Jarrod half way through and ended up passing him and beating him by a couple places," Mandrell added.
Eichenberger (Plainfield, Ind.), who has scored for Miami in all four races and was its top finisher once, was suffering from an injury and did not travel. Freshman James Kraus (Maumee, Ohio), who was set to run in place of Eichenberger, did not run either, as he was sick, leaving the `Hawks with just six runners in the race.
Redshirt sophomore Matt Marol (Evanston, Ill.) was the third RedHawk to score, placing 55th in 27:52 while redshirt junior Brett Wagner (Toledo, Ohio) was Miami's fourth finisher for the second straight meet, taking 61st in 27:57. Freshman Ryan Moncrieff (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) rounded out the scoring for Miami, crossing in 68th in 28:10. Redshirt freshman Daniel Garleb (Pickerington, Ohio) was Miami's sixth runner, coming in 77th place in 28:26.
"That second group (Marol to Garleb) was packed. They were relatively close together but early on in the race, about a quarter mile in, the course narrows a lot and those guys didn't get out very well and got pinched off. They had to try and fight through the crowd and the mud. It put them in a real disadvantage early on," Mandrell said. "They moved through and passed a lot of people but with the conditions you couldn't be as agile as you needed. Wagner had another strong, solid race. Garleb was our fourth man for much of the race but lost about 20 places late."
Miami has a week off before looking to win its first MAC title since 1998 when the RedHawks run at the MAC Championships, hosted by Ball State, Saturday, Oct. 29 in Muncie, Ind.
--MURedHawks.com--
Players Mentioned
