Course Map (PDF).
Athletic Facilities Map (PDF).
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Coming off a runner-up finish at the 2009 Mid-American Conference Championship in its last competition, the Eastern Michigan University men's cross country team is back in action Saturday, Nov. 14, when the Eagles compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The men's 10,000-meter event is scheduled to begin at noon at the Indiana University Cross Country Course in Bloomington, Ind.
Admission to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional is free of charge. Due to limited space, parking is $10 per vehicle.
The Eagles ran well at last year's Great Lakes Regional, as the team finished seventh overall for the second time in as many years. EMU finished first among all MAC schools last year, as the top five Eagle harriers managed to close the gaps well, finishing just 24 seconds of each other. However, the Eagles return just two runners from last year's squad with senior captains Curtis Vollmar (Grand Blanc, Mich.-Grand Blanc) and R.P. White (Hillsdale, Mich.-Hillsdale). Vollmar placed 52nd with a time of 32:35.6 last year, while White took 83rd with a time of 33:20.4.
EMU is coming off a second place finish at the 2009 MAC Cross Country Championship at Ohio University, Oct. 31, where for the first time since the 2004 season, the Eagles didn't walk away from the MAC Championship with the title. Winners of the last four MAC Championships, the Eagles' bid for a fifth straight fell just short, as the team finished in second with 55 points, behind the champion Golden Flashes from Kent State University, who took home the title with 30 points.
Going into the MAC Championship, it was Vollmar who paced the Eagles in every prior competition, and it was no different in Athens. Vollmar was the first EMU harrier to cross the finish line, as he placed fourth overall with a time of 25:57.5 to pick up first-team All-MAC accolades for the second straight year. However, in his last 10,000-meter race, the EMU Fall Classic (Oct. 16), Vollmar bested several former EMU greats to win the event with a time of 32:08.0 and earn MAC Runner of the Week honors for the third time in 2009.
Also running in the 10K EMU Fall Classic was junior Ransom Brown (Coldwater, Mich.-Coldwater), who had a stellar performance with an eighth place finish in a time of 33:23.0.
Earning second-team All-MAC accolades for the first time in his career in his last race was redshirt freshman James Hughes (Manchester, Mich.-Manchester), who finished ninth with a time of 26:12.6. Just behind Hughes and also earning second-team All-MAC honors was junior Matt Hammersmith (Wolcottville, Mich.-Prairie Heights), who finished 10th with a time of 26:18.6.
White and true freshman Terefe Ejigu (Mount Cook, Wellington-Wellington-New Zealand) finished just out of All-MAC contention in their last race, as White placed 15th with a time of 26:30.0, while Ejigu took 17th with a time of 26:35.5.
Sophomores Josh Brent (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Catholic Central-St. Francis) and Austin Hendrix (Sylvania, Ohio-Northview) rounded out the top seven for the Eagles at the MAC Championship, as they placed 32nd and 33rd, respectively.
