INDIANAPOLIS - On Saturday, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference will host its second annual Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships. The event, hosted by Central State University, will take place at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course on the campus of Cedarville University, in Cedarville, Ohio.
 
As the defending champions on both the men’s and women’s side, Cedarville University will hold a home course advantage for the second-straight season as the Yellow Jackets hosted the 2012 G-MAC Championships as well.
 
Men’s Cross Country Championship - 10:30 a.m.
Coming into the race, Cedarville University is the overwhelming favorite to repeat as G-MAC champions. The Yellow Jackets have been ranked nationally by the USTFCCCA (United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaching Association) all season, currently sitting #21, and have been ranked as high as #14 in the nation. The Yellow Jackets are ranked by their top runner, and defending G-MAC Runner of the Year, Matt Brooker. On the season, Brooker has won three races this season, including the All-Ohio, the Cedarville Friendship, and the Blue Ridge Invitational. Last season, he won the G-MAC Championship with a time of 24:33.53, winning the race by over a minute.
 
The Jackets biggest competition should come from Trevecca Nazarene, Davis and Elkins and Ohio Valley University. The Trojans, who finished second to Cedarville last year in a time of 2:21:26.03, looks to be much improved in 2013. So far this season in four races at the 8K distance, their team’s fastest time was 2:17:03 and the slowest time was 2:18:24. So with the consistency, Trevecca leads the groups looking to challenge Cedarville. Led by Logan Rodgers and Ben Moroney, who have led the team throughout the season. Rodgers has posted a season low time of 25:57, while Moroney’s best time of 26:25 came at the Rhodes Invitational.
 
D&E has raced against Cedarville this season, at the Friendship Invitational, finishing seventh and about 12 minutes behind. Tommy Boone has carried the Senators throughout the season, as he captured a first place finish of 53 runners at the Seaton Invitational, and a third place finish of 53 at their home D&E Forest Festival. His best time of the season came at the Cedarville race, finishing 19th of 129 runners in a time of 26:42.34, only a minute and 45 seconds behind Brooker.
 
For Ohio Valley, they have earned some top finishes led by Andrew Shaffer, who had a third place finish at the Forgey Invitational with a time of 27:00.18 and a season best time of 26:13.21 at the Furman Invitational, finishing 22nd out of 142 runners. As a team, Ohio Valley’s average finish this season was about 2:22:30.00 in four races at the 8K distance, whereas Davis and Elkins finishes have ranged from 2:20 to as high as 2:36, seems to average around 2:25:00.00 at the 8K distance.
 
Rounding out the field, Kentucky Wesleyan, Alderson Broaddus, Salem International, and Central State will battle to finish their seasons with their best performance. Alderson Broaddus has posted a season-low time of 2:27:12, but also has posted a season-high time of 2:51:41.10. Conner Horvath has led the team in each race, with a season-best performance at the Greater Louisville Classic with a time of 27:37.40, finishing 37th overall out of 320 runners.
 
Salem International and Kentucky Wesleyan has been close all season, with the Tigers averaging a time of 2:38:30 and the Panthers averaging around 2:36:00. The Panthers have had three different runners lead their team this season with Seth Applegate earning two top finishes with a season and team best time of 29:10.30. For SIU, Jacob Spurk has posted the team’s best time in four of the teams five races, with his best performance coming at the St. Vincent Invitational, where he posted a time of 28:49.0.
 
Women’s Cross Country Championship - 11:30 a.m.
In the women’s race, Cedarville enters as the defending champion, winning the race with a team time of 1:37:46.75 in a 5K race. This season, the championship has increased to a 6K distance, and so far this season, the Lady Jackets have continued to perform at a high level, though the gap has narrowed among the conference competition.
 
The Lady Jackets seem to be peaking at the right time, finishing the Gettysburg race in a season-low time of 2:00:57 to finish sixth in their last outing prior to the G-MAC Championships. Leading the way for Cedarville is the 2012 G-MAC Champion and Freshman of the Year, Alex Archambault. This season she has guided CU in each of the three races, with a season low time of 23:05 at the Gettysburg Invitational.
 
Last season, Cedarville topped Trevecca and Ursuline by nine and 12 minutes respectively, but this season both programs have improved, plus the addition of Alderson Broaddus and Ohio Valley will more than likely provide some competition for the Lady Jackets.
 
At the All-Ohio race, hosted by Cedarville, Ursuline finished two spots behind Cedarville, only 1:21 behind the Lady Jackets. In fact, two of the Arrows runners, Michelle Klim and Nicole Burlinson, finished ahead of Archambault with times of 23:18.38 and 24:38.07. The race was the only 6K race of the season for Ursuline. In comparing their 5K races to last season’s G-MAC Championship time, the Arrows averaged a time of around 1:41:00, which is eight minutes faster than last season’s team.
 
Similarly, Trevecca have run only one 6K race, but in comparing its 2013 times to their finish at the 2012 G-MAC Championships, the Trojans have averaged 1:40:00, which is seven minutes faster than last season’s team. They have been led by Lauren Carmody, Katie Hix, and Lindsey Mathis. Carmody posted the team’s best time of 23:20 in its 6K race at the Rhodes Invitational, 15 seconds behind Archambault’s season best time and two seconds behind Ursuline’s Klim. Carmody also posted the team’s best 5K time of 19:21.79 at the Vanderbilt Invitational, over a minute and half better than her time last season at the G-MAC Championship.
 
Joining the conference this season, Alderson Broaddus will look to make its mark, led by Jenny Brewer, who has led the team in each of its races, including one 6K race. Her time of 23:27:09 is among the conference best, while she has posted a 5K time of 18:59.20 to finish fourth out of 289 runners, as her team finished fourth of the 34 teams. The Battlers recorded a 6K team time of 2:16:38.78 and an average 5K time of 1:50:00.
 
Also new to the G-MAC in 2013, Ohio Valley, who participated in one 6K race this season, finished with  a team time of 2:12:14.25. Led by April Kirk, the Fighting Scotts ran against Alderson Broaddus at the Greater Louisville Classic, finishing 19th with a team time of 1:51:54, nine minutes behind AB. Kirk had a couple top performances, including her first place finish at the Forgey Invitational of 41 runners, and a season-low time of 19:50 at the KWC Fast Cats Invitational.
 
Rounding out the field, Davis & Elkins, Kentucky Wesleyan, Ohio Valley, Salem International, and Central State will look to finish the season on a high note. D&E is led by Ellen Cantaral, who has led the team in each race, posting a season best time of 24:50.89 at the Cedarville Friendship Invitational. The team, running against Cedarville placed 10th with a team time of 2:18:23.80, 13 minutes behind the Lady Jackets.
 
KWC is led by Taylor Wilson, who led the team in three of its four races with a season-low time of 22:39.39 at the 5K distance. The Panthers did not run a 6K race in 2013, but posted a team low score of 1:58:12 at the Evansville Invitational, its last time out.
 
Salem International, led by Jesse Browne has wide ranging finishes this season at both the 5K and 6K distances. The teams best 6K performance came at Bethany, where they posted a team score of 2:54.02.7. Browne’s best times came at the 5K distance where she finished her best race in 22:34 at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.
 
Summary
Overall, Cedarville comes into the race as the defending champions on the men’s and women’s side, and more than likely they are favored to repeat as champions, more so on the men’s side. The competition on the men’s side will most likely come for second place as the ranked Yellow Jackets and Matt Brooker have shown all season they are the team to beat.
 
On the women’s side, only a year after the Lady Jackets dominated the G-MAC Championships, the 2013 race is up in the air and seemingly anyone in the top three to five spots in the conference can surprise the field. Some teams rely on their top runner to post a low team score, while other teams have more consistent depth to earn their low team time. The competition for the top overall runner this season will also be more dramatic than last season when Archambault won the race by 34 seconds over three Cedarville seniors that will not be racing this season.