The men take 11th place, and had seven personal best times that helped them get there. The women, who went in to the weekend with the idea of winning this event, finished seventh.
As many Michigan football fans learned during the weekend, things do not always finish the way you expect them to.
Ohio got a smaller taste of that realization this weekend.
The men’s team headed into the weekend in Louisville without top runner Michael McKean, as coach Mitch Bentley said Friday it was going to be tough going into this weekend without McKean, and “everyone would have to step their game up.”
Well, that’s almost exactly what happened, as the men’s team recorded seven personal best times at Pre-Nationals.
Led by Alex Wind (24:44.7), who finished in 29th place individually, the Bobcats were able to nearly crack the top 10, finishing 11th without their top runner.
Following Wind was senior Jake Gentile (24:59.5) in 51st place, sophomore Brad Miller (25:01.7) in 54th place and Matt Evans (25:06.6) in 60th.
Coach Clay Calkins and Bentley said they were both satisfied with the result, and proud of their guys for stepping up. Calkins said the guys have been stepping up all year and have shown depth.
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Calkins said their performance during the weekend should be enough for the men’s team to make its way into the regional rankings.
The women were on the opposite side of the surprise this weekend, however. The Bobcats went in with the goal of winning the team race, but finished seventh.
Calkins said the women's side ran a decent race, with most of them hovering near personal best times, but that they were “just a bit off” in the beginning of the race.
Ellen Isaac (20:56.7) led the Bobcats finishing in fifth place individually. Following Isaac was senior Peyton Adkins (21:59.2) and sophomore Christina Seas (21:59.2) who finished 61st and 62nd, respectively. Next in line were seniors Krista Roehlig (22:01.6) and Tessa Weingand (22:01.7) in 67th place and 69th place.
Calkins said the girls will be focusing more on speed work instead of volume in order to get out to a faster start at Mid-American Conference meet, but Calkins said it’s more of a mindset than anything.
For the men, the number next to their finish at MAC’s will have a lot to do with the health of McKean.
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