UT Women’s Cross Country Looks for Fourth Consecutive MAC Championship
MAC Championship Information
TOLEDO, OH – As the three-time defending Mid-American Conference champion and preseason favorite to grab this year's crown, the Toledo women's cross country team will try to capture the program's sixth overall title and its first under head coach Linh Nguyen. With a victory, UT will become the first MAC women’s cross country team to win four-consecutive conference titles since Bowling Green from 1980-83.
The UT cross country teams will run in the 2013 MAC Championship Meet on Saturday, Nov. 2 hosted by Bowling Green. The men’s 8K race is set to begin at 11:00 a.m., while the women’s 6K is scheduled for noon.
"I’m excited for my first MAC championship this weekend," Nguyen said. "Our women are healthy and have been looking very good in practice over the last month. I feel that things are coming together and we’re ready to run well. The women are highly motivated to continue the streak of MAC titles."
Junior Brooke Tullis (Maumee, OH) has led the Rockets this season, finishing as the team’s top performer at three meets. She finished 69th at the NCAA Pre-National Meet to pace Toledo to a 14th place finish, defeating two teams ranked in the top 20 nationally.
Tullis will be joined by senior Devyn Ramsay (Benzonia, MI), redshirt senior Kristal Studer (Bright, IN), juniors Mackenzie Chojnacky (Jerome, ID), Priscilla Timmons (Vancouver, WA), Liz Weiler (Mentor, OH) and Megan Wright (Miamisburg, OH) and sophomore Theresa Warsecke (Benzonia, MI) at this weekend’s race. Timmons, Weiler and Wright each finished in the top 10 at the Mel Brodt Collegiate Opener in September, and Wright was the team’s second finisher at the Paul Short Run. Warsecke also had a second-place finish at the EMU Triangular.
The UT women won the 2012 MAC Championship in historic fashion, with a record-breaking score of 24 points, besting their mark of 33 points in 2011. Eight of nine runners were awarded All-MAC honors, including First-Team All-MAC selections Wright, Weiler and Tullis.
The UT men’s cross country team will try to improve on last year’s eighth-place finish at the MAC Championships. The team has progressed this season, culminating in a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, led by juniors Hillary Serem (Eldoret,Kenya) and Jake Kasperski (Farmersville, OH) who both finished in the top 50.
Serem, Kasperski, seniors Ricky Adamson (Sylvania, OH), Nick Brenner (Stow, OH) and Trevin Flickinger (Defiance, OH), junior Adam Smercina (Oak Harbor, OH) and sophomores Adam Bess (Oregon, OH), Nick Costello (Brighton, MI) and Thomas Gibbons (Oregon, OH) will compete on Saturday morning for the men.
"The men are fit as well and I think ready for a solid performance," Nguyen said. "We’ve been talking all season about raising the level of expectations and performance for the men’s program and this will be an opportunity for them to take that first step. I think we have a bright future in the men’s program."
Both teams hope to use the familiarity with the course to their advantage. The Rockets raced at the Mel Brodt Collegiate Opener hosted by Bowling Green on Friday, Sept. 13, which featured nearly identical courses to Saturday’s MAC Championship races.
Follow the 2013 MAC Championships at the attached link to the MAC website and the team’s official Twitter account (@ToledoXCTF) for live results and meet information. Visit
http://www.utrockets.com for more information