MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Senior Matt Loiselle and freshman Sammy Kiprotich earned second team All-Mid-American Conference honors in leading the Central Michigan University men’s cross country team to a third-place finish at the MAC Championship meet on Saturday. The Chippewas hosted the event at Riverwood Resort.

Loiselle, a Windsor, Ont. native, finished the 8K race in 25:19, good enough for a ninth-place individual finish. Kiprotich, a native of Kenya, finished 13th (25:22).

“Matt had a tough start to the year. He didn’t start running until October,” head coach Craig Fuller said. “He should have a great track season coming off of this effort and it was a great effort from Sammy as a freshman.”

The Chippewas (98 points) finished behind Eastern Michigan (31) and Miami (50). EMU took home its third-consecutive MAC title.

“It was a great team race,” Fuller said. “We thought the race started very fast. We didn’t expect that and felt this course was a bit slower than what it ended up being.”

Sophomore Riak Mabil finished 18th (25:34), senior Andrew Manning finished 22nd (25:43) and junior Donnie Richmond finished 36th (26:25) to round out the top five Chippewa runners.

“We aren’t a veteran team by any stretch of the imagination but hopefully we learned from this and I think we’ll be better in the regional meet,” Fuller said.
Loiselle’s MAC cross country career comes to an end after earning three second team All-MAC honors and one first-team selection during his career.

The Chippewas will now turn their attention to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet, hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. on Saturday, Nov. 10.
“I think we could have some success at the regional, but it will take a supreme effort by our entire squad,” Fuller said.