2020 MAC XC Championship Preview

Going into this academic year, cross country programs in the Mid-American Conference were told that they would not be competing. However, on October 26th, the MAC reversed course and ended up approving an "operational plan" for men's and women's cross country this fall.

Immediately following the announcement, team’s quickly put together races against conference foes and managed to get in a rust-buster (or two) before toeing the line for tomorrow's MAC XC Championships which will be held on the campus of Bowling Green State University.

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Women’s Preview

On the women’s side, there is the potential for a new team champion to be crowned now that Eastern Michigan University, the reigning champs of the last five years, has graduated numerous veteran runners. Last year's runner-up Northern Illinois also graduated three women from their 2019 conference lineup.

Based on graduation and expired eligibility, a team like Toledo or Miami (OH), two programs with plenty of newcomers, could shake things up at the front of this race.

Toledo, led by accomplished distance coach Andrea Grove-McDonough, will be after their first conference title since the 2014 season. The Rockets are coming off of two 1st place finishes this season, one at the Jeff Drenth Invite and the other at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite.

Front-runners Semra Karaslan and Emily Vining will be instrumental to Toledo’s success as they will look to finish in the top-five overall spots of this weekend and give this team a significant edge in terms of scoring potency. If their remaining three scorers can manage to find themselves scattered throughout the top-25, then the Rockets could end up pulling off the win.

Despite how strong the Rockets look, it's the women of Miami (OH) that will look to challenge Toledo after losing to them by only nine points at the BGSU Falcon Invite earlier this month.

The RedHawks have a strong duo of their own in underclassmen Emily Akin and Carmen Riano. Akin was 72nd last fall at the MAC Championships, but she is proving to be a real threat this season after a promising 4th place finish at the Cardinal Classic and a 5th place finish at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite.

Much like Toledo, the RedHawks' top two scorers could offer great firepower, but the team's overall success will be determined by how well their bottom runners perform. We should also mention that their lineup is incredibly young, with their top four scorers at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite listed as either sophomores of freshmen.

Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois could also find themselves battling for a top-three team finish if their women put together solid-enough results. Both squads lost key scoring pieces from last year's lineups, but there could still be some firepower upfront or amongst their supporting packs of scorers.

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Individually, Kailee Perry of Bowling Green State University, Ashley Tutt of Northern Illinois and Karaslan of Toledo should be the ones who duke it out for the championship.

Perry, who redshirted the 2019 cross country season, has competed only once this fall at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite which she won by 18 seconds. She may not have the best foot-speed in this field, but Perry has clearly made promising developments during the spring and summer months.

As for Tutt, she was the 2019 MAC champion and later qualified for the cross country national meet, placing 50th in a tough field in Terre Haute. The NIU veteran won both the 3k and 5k at the MAC Indoor Championships before COVID shut down collegiate athletics. Tutt’s accolades speak for themselves and she will be looking to rebound this weekend after a 3rd place finish at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite.

The last main challenger to watch is Toledo’s Semra Karaslan.

Karaslan, a new name in the MAC, has already erupted onto the scene after winning the Jeff Drenth Invite by 20 seconds and later placing 2nd at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite. The Rockets will need her to earn a top finish in order to keep their hopes of winning the team title alive.

Some other names to watch will be Northern Illinois' Mackenzie Callahan, the 3rd place finisher from the 2019 MAC Championship, Eastern Michigan's Karlie Swanson, the 4th place finisher from the 2019 MAC Championship and Akron's Lindsey Scarton, the 8th place finisher from the 2019 MAC Championship.

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Men’s Preview

If things shape up as expected, it looks like the team title will come down to a race between the reigning champs of Eastern Michigan and the men of Miami (OH). The RedHawks dethroned the Eagles in 2018 after EMU racked up eight conference titles from 2010 to 2017, but the Eagles rebounded in 2019 and look just as strong this fall.

In fact, just a few weeks ago, Eastern Michigan and Miami (OH) faced off at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite where the Eagles came out on top with eight fewer points.

Eastern Michigan has only competed once this season, but they made it count at BGSU. Freshman Toby Gualter led the team with his runner-up result while teammate Baldvin Magnusson was close behind in 3rd place. At the BGSU Falcon XC Invite, the Eagles were led by a handful of underclassmen, but there are still many key veterans who could make a statement after shaking off the rust at their earlier meet.

As for Miami (OH), they will be a team to keep an eye on at the MAC Championships as they are coming off of a 33 second time spread amongst their top five scorers at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite. With such a low time spread, the RedHawks have the potential to keep their entire scoring five within the top-15 of Saturday's race.

Sean Torpy, a runner with personal bests of 3:44 (1500) and 14:01 (5k), is coming off of a respectable 4th place finish at the Cardinal Classic and a 5th place finish at the Falcon XC Invite. Torpy, combined with Anthony Camerieri and a slew of freshmen, will rely on strength in numbers to take down the always challenging Eastern Michigan men.

We should also note that Chris Torpy hasn't run this season and didn't compete in cross country last year either. His potential addition to this lineup could be huge and potentially sway the team race in the RedHawks favor. He placed 5th at this meet back in 2018.

Of course, the same thing could be said for Eastern Michigan. They didn't have Andy Payne toe the line earlier this season (he was the 4th place finisher at last year's conference meet) and it's fair to say that Owen Day, one of the team's top scorers, had a rough performance at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite. If those two are running and are at their best tomorrow, then they will give this team a significant boost in scoring.

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Individually, Ohio's Josh Park should be the overall favorite. Park was 3rd at the 2019 MAC Championship and has picked up two wins so far this fall, taking home victories at the Cardinal Classic and BGSU Falcon XC Invite by considerable margins. As the highest place finisher returning from 2019, and with a long history of strong performances at a variety of meets, Park will be after the MAC title come Saturday.

The aforementioned Baldvin Magnusson will also be one to watch as he won both the indoor 3k and 5k title at the MAC Championships last winter. He placed 3rd at the Falcon Invite, 13 seconds behind Park, but has the potential to make up that difference. Assuming that he is joined by teammate Toby Gualter, the Eagles could be looking for a 1-2 sweep.

Adam Rzentkowski of Central Michigan University and Alex Stamper of Kent State are two other names to pay attention to.

Rzentkowski, a sophomore, won the Jeff Drenth Invite and recently placed 4th at the BGSU Falcon XC Invite. Stamper, a junior, won the Akron XC Invite which was essentially just a matchup against the University at Buffalo.

In 2019, Rzentkoswki was 31st and Stamper was 23rd at this conference meet. However, both men are capable of top-10 finishes this weekend. It just comes down to whether or not their recent progression will translate to this weekend.