The men's cross country team will compete in the Mid-AmericanConference Championship Saturday at Mayfair Country Club in Green,Ohio, and they're treating it like a whole new season.
The team is hoping for a top four finish in the 12-teamfield.
The top three teams in the conference right now are EasternMichigan, Central Michigan and Miami (Ohio). In the latest men'scross country rankings, Central Michigan is ranked 22nd; Miami(Ohio) is ranked 26th, and Eastern Michigan has been ranked inprevious polls.
The team has not competed for two weeks and has accomplished alot in practice during that time. The confidence level is great,and the performance level is peaking at the right time.
"We got confidence going real good right now, and that's the keygoing into (the meet)," student assistant Michael Johnson said."The way you win in cross country is you run smarter than everyoneelse."
The team has an interesting mix of runners that can make animpression Saturday. Seniors Aaron Hoover, Sal Impellitteri andSteve Samuel have run in three conference meets before and know howto win.
On the other hand, the team has three freshman — JeffKent, Stephen Cohen and Justin Stadt -- who have never been in thiskind of situation before.
"When they go out there, they just run," head coach JermaineJones said. "History really doesn't matter to them. They just wantto run well."
Both Jones and Johnson said they feel that the time is now forthe team to step up and have its best performance.
"This is our showcase," Johnson said. "It's where we get to cageourselves against other MAC schools."
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