Thursday, September 5
Akron, Ohio
TBD
Kent State University
vs
Tommy Evans Invitational
Paige Foster
Gun Sounds Thursday for Cross Country Opener
9/4/2013 10:35:00 AM | Cross Country
Flashes Men and Women Take Part in Tommy Evans Invitational
After a disappointing finish to the 2012 campaign, the Kent State Golden Flashes cross country teams will get their 2013 seasons underway Thursday (Sept. 5) at Firestone Metro Park in Akron for the annual Tommy Evans Invitational.
Along with MAC rival Akron, local rivals Youngstown State and Malone, Marshall and the Golden Flashes make up the remainder of the scored opening meet.
While the Flashes fell a bit short of their own lofty expectations in 2012, there was a bright spot in senior Michael Heller's qualification to the NCAA meet – something head coach Marc Croghan would love to see on a larger scale in 2013.
"Our focus this year is to get a group – both on the men and women's sides – who are all close and sort of stack them on top of each other. And I feel if they can run like Mike did last year, we'll have a really strong team."
Only into their second week practicing as a team, the Flashes are working a couple of individuals – one men's runner and one women's squad member – back from minor injuries. And while they'll both be withheld from Thursday's competition for precautionary reasons, Croghan has them both penciled in as potential scorers in 2013.
"We're looking at competitive outings from Paige Foster, Hannah Fleck, Melinda Sawnor, Rachel Slingluff and Taylor Wickey with Tabitha (Jacofsky) out. Tabitha's got a little bit of hip tightness so we'll just hold her out this week."
The KSU women finished ninth at the MAC Championships a season ago, while their counterparts on the men's side placed sixth.
"We've got to get it done as a team this year," Croghan said. "I certainly want to be competitive this week, but I am also excited to get the chance to see our team and where people are at this point after we've only been here practicing as a group for a couple of weeks."
Veterans Andrew Goodwin, Steve Fischer, Julian Meyer and Matt Kahl figure to evolve into the point-scoring lead pack Croghan covets. Seniors Goodwin and Fischer each posted a pair of top-ten finishes as sophomores and Meyer – a fifth year senior – has NCAA Championships experience at Ohio State.
The 2013 season features three regular season meets, the NCAA Pre-National run and the MAC Championships – slated for Nov. 2 at Bowling Green. This year's NCAA Championship meet is Nov. 23 in Terra Haute.
The KSU women will open Thursday's meet at 5:30 p.m. while the men follow at 6:15.
Along with MAC rival Akron, local rivals Youngstown State and Malone, Marshall and the Golden Flashes make up the remainder of the scored opening meet.
While the Flashes fell a bit short of their own lofty expectations in 2012, there was a bright spot in senior Michael Heller's qualification to the NCAA meet – something head coach Marc Croghan would love to see on a larger scale in 2013.
"Our focus this year is to get a group – both on the men and women's sides – who are all close and sort of stack them on top of each other. And I feel if they can run like Mike did last year, we'll have a really strong team."
Only into their second week practicing as a team, the Flashes are working a couple of individuals – one men's runner and one women's squad member – back from minor injuries. And while they'll both be withheld from Thursday's competition for precautionary reasons, Croghan has them both penciled in as potential scorers in 2013.
"We're looking at competitive outings from Paige Foster, Hannah Fleck, Melinda Sawnor, Rachel Slingluff and Taylor Wickey with Tabitha (Jacofsky) out. Tabitha's got a little bit of hip tightness so we'll just hold her out this week."
The KSU women finished ninth at the MAC Championships a season ago, while their counterparts on the men's side placed sixth.
"We've got to get it done as a team this year," Croghan said. "I certainly want to be competitive this week, but I am also excited to get the chance to see our team and where people are at this point after we've only been here practicing as a group for a couple of weeks."
Veterans Andrew Goodwin, Steve Fischer, Julian Meyer and Matt Kahl figure to evolve into the point-scoring lead pack Croghan covets. Seniors Goodwin and Fischer each posted a pair of top-ten finishes as sophomores and Meyer – a fifth year senior – has NCAA Championships experience at Ohio State.
The 2013 season features three regular season meets, the NCAA Pre-National run and the MAC Championships – slated for Nov. 2 at Bowling Green. This year's NCAA Championship meet is Nov. 23 in Terra Haute.
The KSU women will open Thursday's meet at 5:30 p.m. while the men follow at 6:15.
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