There are growing expectations for Ashland University's cross country teams going into the 2025 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship, in Midland, Mich., on Saturday (Oct. 25) morning.
Regional rankings, national rankings and PR times dropping will do that.
The women's 6K championship race will be at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men's 8K title race at 11:30 a.m. – and both Eagle sides are looking to place much higher than their previous bests at the G-MAC Championship, both being seventh.
Ashland's men have been in or near the top 25 in NCAA Division II this fall, and were fifth in the last set of U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Regional rankings. The Eagle men were in the top 25 prior to winning the Carnegie Mellon Invitational on Oct. 11, but fell out of the top 25 thereafter.
Head coach
Jacob Sussman said the phrase "chip on their shoulder" would be an accurate one.
"Our biggest comp right now is Walsh. We've faced them head-to-head, lost to them by one point," Sussman noted. "The men's team, where their head's at going into this is, they've got a shot, which I 100-percent believe, as well.
"I think they understand the process of why that (the poll) happened, but it never makes any sense to anybody, when you're not losing to anybody and moving down. They know what they've got to do."
Ashland's men have been paced all fall by seniors
Nate Slater and
Braeden Geist, and sophomore
Wes Taylor. Their 8K PRs this fall – Slater 24:24.5, Taylor 24:28.5 and Geist 24:37.6 – would have been first or second at the 2024 Championships.
"Their gameplan's going to be exactly the same as it has been," Sussman said, "get out, top 10-ish in the race, and just kind of keep putting the pressure on to everyone else's No. 1 or No. 2 guys, and hopefully, they can make something happen there."
To place high on Saturday, AU's men also will need the strong outings they have been getting from redshirt freshman
Samuel Thomas (8K PR of 25:00.5), senior
Michael Snopik (25:07.1), fifth-year
Colton Pinkerton (25:23.6) and junior
Colton Thress (25:24.3).
"Mike and Sam have improved a ton during the season," said Sussman. "And the two guys who are helping them do that, Colt Thress and Colt Pinkerton, have been kind of setting the pace for them to be able to do that."
On the women's side, Sussman said, "They've been just as a determined as the guys. As a whole, our top 6-7 have moved up a ton. Kind of having a mix of younger women in there and upperclassmen has kind of motivated them."
Freshman
Ava Parrett has been the Eagle women's leader for most of the fall, and her 6K PR is 22:51.9.
"I think she's capable of anything at this point," Sussman said. "She really showed up that first meet, and then is kind of seeing the consistency of the rest of the women's team, and how they are moving up throughout the season."
Sussman mentioned the junior class trio of
Molly Coleman (6K PR of 22:24.1),
Amandine Binet (22:56.9) and
Elisabeth Willett (23:29.8) as those who have made significant jumps this fall.
"On any given day, any one of them can be our No. 1, which is a good thing from an overall team aspect," Sussman said. "Those women saw the success of the team last year with
Lily Dowdell, and how hard she was working to achieve what she wanted to achieve. I think that it's really resonated with that class, in improving the whole team as a unit."
