Akron Cross Country Set for NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Friday, November 10

Madison, Wisc.

12:30 PM

University of Akron

NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Akron Cross Country Set for NCAA Great Lakes Regional

November 09 | Cross Country

NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: MEET INFORMATION | LIVE RESULTS

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron cross country team under the direction of second-year head coach Dr. Tim Sykes is set to compete at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by Wisconsin on Friday (Nov. 10) at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.

The women's 6-kilometer race will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET with the men's 10K race to follow at 1:30 p.m. ET.

The 34-team field in the women's championship includes teams from Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Butler, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Cleveland State, Dayton, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, Green Bay, IUPUI, Indiana, Indiana State, Kent State, Marquette, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Milwaukee, Notre Dame, Oakland, Ohio, Ohio State, Purdue, Purdue Fort Wayne, Toledo, Valparaiso, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wright State, Xavier and Youngstown State.

Scheduled to compete for the Zips in the women's field is freshman Kayla Gonzales (Shelby, Ohio), senior Makenna Heimlich (Shelby, Ohio), freshman Megan Hipple (Warren, Ohio), junior Danielle Honaker (Ashland, Ohio), freshmen Lauren LaRue (Oregon, Ohio) and Mary Munga (Nyandarua, Kenya) and junior Halle Sebest (Poland, Ohio).

The 30-team men's field includes squads from Akron, Akron, Bowling Green, Butler, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Michigan, Green Bay, IUPUI, Indiana, Indiana State, Kent State, Marquette, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Milwaukee, Notre Dame, Oakland, Ohio, Ohio State, Purdue, Purdue Fort Wayne, Toledo, Valparaiso, Wisconsin, Wright State, Xavier and Youngstown St.

Scheduled to compete for the Zips in the men's field is freshman Majid Abuaun (Rocky River, Ohio), redshirt senior Chase Easterling (Mt. Orab, Ohio), freshmen Timothy Chesondin (Eldoret, Kenya), Titus Kirui (Eldoret, Kenya) and Brian Masai (Kitale, Kenya), sophomore Anthony Nichols (Silver Lake, Ohio) and senior Kyle Stober (Mogadore, Ohio).

The Akron men's cross country team made a triumphant return to the Mid-American Conference Championships as the Zips captured the program's first ever league title on Oct. 28 at the Mel Brodt Cross Country Course on the campus of Bowling Green.

The Zips bested Toledo to earn the team crown as four Zips finished in the top 10 led by Chesondin, who placed second in a career-best 8K time of 23:59.82.

On the women's side, Akron earned a fifth-place showing led by Munga garnering First-Team All-MAC honors on the strength of a fourth-place finish in career-best 6K time of 20:45.64.

Chesondin and Munga were rewarded for their efforts as the duo was named the MAC Men's and Women's Freshman of the Year.

Chesondin led Akron's performances in the men's race crossing the line in a cross country 8K school-record time of 23:59.82.

Following tightly behind with the second-fastest time in program history was Masai, who placed third in 24:01.39. Adding the third-fastest time in program history, 24:21.75, to finish fifth was Easterling.

The trio of Chesondin, Masai and Easterling collected First-Team All-MAC honors for their efforts, while Kirui garnered Second-Team All-MAC accolades finishing 12th in 24:41.71.

Rounding out Akron's scoring efforts with a career-best time of 25:18.60 to place 33rd was Stober.

Additionally, Abuaun, Nichols, freshmen Zayd Elkurd, (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) and senior Jean Dieuvil (North Miami Beach, Fla.) added times of 25:56.79, 26:39.44, 27:31.29 and 28:19.09, respectively.

Munga earned First-Team All-MAC accolades on the strength of placing fourth in the women's 6K in 20:45.64.

Turning in career-best times of 21:15.60, 21:41.39 and 21:42.17, respectively, was Hipple, Sebest and Honaker

Wrapping up the Zips' scoring efforts with a time of 22:19.98 was Gonzales.

Additionally, Makenna Heimlich, freshmen Kayla Sucharski (Galena, Ohio) and LaRue and junior Hannah Kerr (Chillicothe, Ohio) registered times of 23:12.91, 23:33.43, 23:53.93 and 24:03.00.

In 2022, Rebekah Harden led the efforts of the Akron cross country squad at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by Indiana State at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Harden traversed the 6K course in a team-best time of 22:16.9 to direct the Zips to a 24th-place team finish.

Makenna Heimlich was Akron's next runner across the line in a time of 22:51.7.

Rounding out the Zips' scoring efforts was the trio of Honaker, Sebest and senior Maddie Heimlich (Shelby, Ohio), who recorded times of 23:00.5, 23:16.2 and 23:16.8, respectively.

Additionally, Kerr and junior Emerson Rainsburg (Dover, Ohio) added times of 23:42.3 and 24:05.6.