Miami Men Tune Up for MACs at Penn State
10/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 13, 2011
OXFORD, Ohio - Looking to rebound from a disappointing performance its last time out, the Miami University men's cross country team runs at the Penn State National Meet Friday in University Park, Pa. at the Penn State Blue/White Golf Courses. The 8K race begins at 10 a.m. and serves as a final tune-up before the Mid-American Conference Championships.
Miami will be running at the meet for the first time, facing competition from outside the region. Among the 22 schools the RedHawks will see Friday are Duquesne, Grand Valley State, Hofstra, Lehigh, Marist, Penn, Robert Morris, Temple and Youngstown State. Also at the meet will be MAC rivals Akron and Buffalo as well as the host Nittany Lions.
Several schools running Friday are ranked in the latest USTFCCCA regional polls as host Penn State is No. 4 in the Mid-Atlantic Region while Lehigh is eighth, Duquesne ninth and Penn No. 10. Akron is also No. 15 in the Great Lakes Region Poll while Marist and Buffalo round out the Northeast Region top-15 Poll.
The `Hawks last ran at the All-Ohio Championships on Sept. 30 when Miami placed sixth out of 45 teams despite running on just six days rest. Junior Jarrod Eick (Hartville, Ohio) led the way for the third time on the year, taking seventh place in a season-best 25:19.36. Redshirt junior David Eichenberger (Plainfield, Ind.) was the second Miami finisher, claiming 26th. Miami had won its first three meets of the year, including the LSU Invitational just six days earlier on Sept. 24, while Eick won individual titles at the Dayton Flyer 5K Challenge and the Miami Open, where the `Hawks also won team titles.
Following the Penn State National Meet, Miami is off a week 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--