Women's Cross Country | November 01, 2019
DEKALB, Ill. – The Western Michigan women's cross country team is preparing for the 2019 Mid-American Conference Championship at Northern Illinois's North 40 Course on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
The Broncos have seen gains throughout the season under first-year head coach Makiba Batten and assistant coach Toni Filipek.
With the turnover on staff and losing All-MAC runners in Sarah Anderson and Maria McDaniel, the Broncos were predicted to finish ninth in the preseason coach's poll. WMU returns senior Juliane Sormain, who was a Second Team All-MAC selection last season after finishing 14th overall. This season has also seen the emergence of senior Brittney Hall. The Macomb, Mich., native has been the team's top finisher at every meet she has competed in this season. She has also turned in new personal-best performances in the 6k (21:59.4, Spartan Invitational) and the 5k (17:37.3, Joe Piane Invitational).
In addition to running Sormain and Hall, the Broncos will also run Ashley Shipps, Courtney Allen, Paisley Sipes, Annalise James, Rebecca McNamee, Haley Ritsema and Oliva VandePol. To earn All-MAC honors a runner has to finish in the top 14, with spots 1-7 earning First Team honors and spots 8-14 earning Second Team honors.
"First and foremost, the group goes out and trusts their training," said Batten on her confidence in the team. "If they run smart races they will do well. I think our goal is to finish higher than what we were predicted and if they are confident in their training they will do that."
"I'm looking forward to see Juliane and Brittney running close together and working off of each other. For the second pack, I want to see them move up strategically. It's a matter of chasing down jerseys as we get further into the race. There are some opportunities on this course to do that."
After the MAC Championship the season continues on. The Broncos have a week off before heading to Madison, Wis., for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship at the University of Wisconsin.
