Miami Looks to Defend Title at MAC Championships Saturday

Saturday, November 2

DeKalb, Ill.

12:00 P.M. ET

Miami University

MAC Championships

Miami Looks to Defend Title at MAC Championships Saturday

10/31/2019 3:37:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country, Cross Country

Live Results

The RedHawks were last year's men's champions and finished third on the women's side.

OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami RedHawks will look to defend one crown while potentially adding another this Saturday at the Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championships.

The RedHawks won their first men's championship since 1998 in last year's conference meet, while the women had a promising third-place finish a year ago.

This year's meet is hosted in DeKalb by Northern Illinois University. The meet schedule consists of the men's race running first at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT, while the women's race will follow at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT. The NIU course uses the standard 8K/6K distances.

MIAMI PREVIEW
The RedHawks will have high hopes entering Saturday, having been tabbed back in the preseason by the league's coaches to finish first on the men's side and third on the women's side.

The story for Miami cross country this fall has been depth, as a multitude of runners on both the men's and women's side have proven themselves capable of making their way towards the top of the RedHawk pack.

On the men's half, the 'Hawks have had a different top scorer in each of MU's six races so far this year. Charlie Harders owns the best time of any Miamian so far this fall thanks to his 24:31.68 showing at Notre Dame on Oct. 4 to lead the 'Hawks to a top-two finish. In addition, the young trio of Alex Tam, Anthony Camerieri, and Obsaa Feda have all put up some big runs while senior Ryan Sharkey was Miami's pacesetter last time out at Pre-Nationals. Another name to watch out for is David Coffey, who last year earned Second-Team All-MAC honors with a great finish at the MAC Championship.

The women's side has been a similar story this year, as several different RedHawks have stepped up at each meet. Senior Carly Davis remains one of the team leaders who has had success at past MAC Championships; she also led Miami at both Pre-Nationals two weeks ago and at Ohio State in September. Sophomore Emily Akin has also had several great runs and will look to make a splash in her first conference meet on Saturday; she and Davis have formed Miami's top two in each of the last three meets. Alongside that tandem, Emma Bryant, Claire Linn, Maegan Murphy, and Katie Vitou could be among Miami's top finishers in DeKalb.

A LOOK AT THE FIELD
Eastern Michigan, last year's women's champion, will be one of Miami's biggest competitors on Saturday. The Eagles come in at ninth in the most recent USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region rankings on the men's side, which leads the MAC, and 12th on the women's side.

Akron is another team that may test the RedHawks, as they are similar to EMU in being ranked 10th/11th in the region. On the women's side, last-year's runner-up Toledo will be among the group of contenders as the lead the MAC with a ninth-place regional ranking.

On an individual level, the highest-finishing returners include Josh Park from Ohio, last year's men's champion, and Athena Welsh from Toledo, last year's women's runner-up.

The RedHawks enter the weekend ranked 12th regionally on the men's side and are unranked on the women's side, although both squads placed in the top ten for the majority of the season.

The 'Hawks can be followed in their championship pursuit at the live results link above. More information and updates will be available on Twitter at @MiamiOH_XCTF.