KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- After a strong showing at the Mid-American Conference Championships, the Western Michigan cross country team will now be in Madison, Wisc. for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday afternoon. The meet is set for 12:30 p.m. at the Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
LAST TIME OUT
As a team, the Broncos finished seventh at the Mid-American Conference Championships a couple weeks ago. During that event,
Danielle Rinn and
Kayla Schiera were each able to grab top-12 finishes. Rinn finished seventh, which marked her third top-10 finish in her last four races, while Schiera placed 12th to mark her second consecutive season with All-MAC honors.
Chloe Nixon (39th),
Katelyn Spooner (52nd) and
Brooke Soper (55th) rounded out the scoring lineup for WMU.
LAST YEAR'S EVENT
Western Michigan was able to secure 13th place at last year's NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet, which tied the second-highest finish in program history at that event.
Makayla Perez finished 20th at the meet, helping her collect All-Region honors. She was the first Bronco to get All-Region recognition since Hanne Christensen in 2017.
Kayla Schiera also raced to a top-60 finish at the meet, posting a time of 21:20.5. She is the top returner for the Broncos from last year's meet.
RINN AND SCHIERA MAKE HISTORY
Danielle Rinn and
Kayla Schiera each collected All-MAC honors during the XC MAC Championships back on Oct. 28 in Bowling Green. Rinn finished seventh to nab First Team honors, while Schiera finished 12th to grab Second Team recognition. Rinn's appearance on the First Team marked the first time since 2017-2018 that the program has had back-to-back First Team All-MAC performers.
Makayla Perez and Schiera were on the MAC First Team last season. Hanne Christensen and Sarah Anderson were the last duo to nab back-to-back MAC First Team accolades. Additionally, WMU hasn't had four All-MAC performers over a two-year stretch since 2017-18. Perez and Schiera were recognized last season, while Rinn and Schiera grabbed the honors this season.
NIXON MAKES STRIDES
Freshman
Chloe Nixon has continued to make strides during her first season on campus in Kalamazoo. Nixon has continued to get better throughout the season, culminating in her becoming one of the top freshman at the MAC Championship Meet back in late October. Nixon grabbed 39th place with a time of 22:03.09, which marked her best collegiate 6K time.
CATALDO NAMED HEAD COACH
After originally coming to Western Michigan as an assistant coach for the cross country and track and field program,
Kevin Cataldo was selected as the head coach on May 10, 2023. Cataldo joined the Broncos as an assistant coach in March 2022, after serving in the same position at Southern Illinois for six seasons. He was then elevated to interim head coach in August of 2022.
During his first year with the program, the cross country team finished fifth at the MAC Championships. It was the first time in program history that the program had two first team all-MAC performers.
Makayla Perez finished fifth and
Kayla Schiera placed seventh at the conference meet. The program also tied the second highest finish in program history at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet (13th). Additionally it was the first time the squad had an All-Region athlete (
Makayla Perez) since Hanne Christensen in 2017.
WHO'S RUNNING? (Denotes 6K PR)
Danielle Rinn (20:52.4),
Kayla Schiera (20:32.9),
Madison Clor (22:45.5),
Chloe Nixon (22:03.1),
Larissa McGrath (22:56.4),
Katelyn Spooner (21:28.3),
Delaney Knoll (22:47.4),
Brooke Soper (22:29.4) and
Lauren Sancrant (23:07.5) will all make the trip for WMU. Rinn, Schiera and Nixon are all coming off of top-40 finishes at the MAC Championship Meet in late October.
UP NEXT
With a good performance at regionals, the Broncos will head on to the NCAA Championship meet, which is set for Nov. 18 in Charlottesville, Va.
