On a bright and sunny autumn morning, runners from eight Mid-American Conference institutions tried to use every piece of energy in order to emerge victorious in a war of attrition. The MAC Championship was held in Athens, adding to the excitement of Halloween weekend.
Women’s Championship
The MAC Women’s Championship race was rather uneventful as there were three clear-cut leaders from the start. The three leaders widened a gap that was never in doubt. Between Miami’s Carmen Riano and Toledo’s Joy Chirchir and Faith Linga, they stole the show as far as being the frontrunners. That being said, once Riano won the individual conference championship, the attention turned quickly to the team portion of the content.
Like in golf, a lower combined score from the runners is better. The placements of all the runners are added up to give a team score, with first place earning one point, second place earning two points, etc.
Led by Chirchir and Linga, Toledo put on a masterful show to dominate the competition. Their combined score of 29 was far and away the best of the day. Ohio, however, overcame their highest placing runner coming in 12th place overall and got second place in the team portion of the competition with a score of 83. Ohio got a high enough score to put itself into the Great Lakes Regional, the next step before the NCAA Tournament. Finally, Ohio’s Leila Boussedra not only claimed her spot on the All-MAC Second Team, but her excellence during the season allowed her to gain the honor of Freshman of the Year.
Men’s Championship
Unlike the Women’s Championship, there was little competition among the men. Miami not only won the race outright with Obsaa Feda, but won the overall team championship as well. Feda’s time of 23:39.7 to run eight kilometers is incredibly impressive by itself, but the fact that two of his other teammates were able to get in the top 10 is equally impressive.
Ohio did not fare quite as well in the Men’s Championship. Their highest finisher was Wendesen King, who placed 19th overall. As a team, Ohio accumulated 168 points, good for sixth overall. Other runners from Ohio came in 24th, 45th, 46th and 49th. The performance was not exactly ideal for Ohio as the host school, but there were some positives that can be taken into next season and beyond.
