TERRE HAUTE,Ind. -- The Central Michigan men's and women's cross country team showed promise against some of the top teams in the country at the Pre-National meet, hosted by Illinois State on Saturday.

Missy Darling and Holly Anderson were the top finishers for the women' team, Daring finished 92nd (22:01.0) and Anderson finished 147th (22:36.6).

"Holly ran well for us today," head coach Willie Randolph said. "Overall, the team ran okay, but we'll need to step things up for the Mid-American Conference meet."

Other runners for the women included Kylee Kubacki (168th, 22:52.5), Raeanne Lohner (177th, 22:57.5), Danielle Dakroub (191st, 23:13.4), Emily Van Wasshenova (197th, 23:16.4) and Brittany Dixon (239th, 24:24.2).

The men's team gave a strong performance as well, but they too, know they'll have to step up their effort at next week's MAC championship.

Sammy Kiprotch was the top finisher for the Chippewas, placing 136th with a time of 25:32.8.

"Sammy stepped up for us today," Randolph said. "We just need things to fall into place a little better and that starts with building on meets like today."

Other finishers for the men include Chris Pankow (156th, 25:45.8), Jacob Korir (180th, 26:04.0), Adam Smith (186th, 29:09.2) and Matt Lutzke (198th, 26:21.0).

"Now that this young team has seen some tough competition, hopefully we can really build on this," Randolph said. "We need to believe in ourselves and make things happen."

The men finished 27th (691 points) among 35 teams (237 individuals) and the women finished 31st among 37 teams (249 individuals).

The Chippewas will be back in action Oct. 31st for the MAC Championships, hosted by Ohio University.