Midwest Meet of Champions - Preview

The 2014 MMOC has all the makings of a great mid-season cross country meet!

Year in and year out the Midwest Meet of Champions has attracted some of the best teams and top runners to this elite cross country competition.  The field is once again filled with many of the top distance runners and cross country teams in Ohio and the surrounding states.  Look for some very competitive races on Saturday!

Girls Competition:

It should be quite a battle up front in the girl’s race!  Defending MMOC Champion Akron SVSM is back to defend its’ title.  The D2 State Power will be challenged by Springboro (2nd at last year's MMOC), Brunswick (3rd last year), Upper Arlington (#8 ranked in Ohio) and Kentucky's highly ranked Sacred Heart squad. Throw in at least 4 other state ranked teams - Mentor (#18), Coffman (#20), Magnificat (#23) and Chardon (#23), to the mix and you can see how really deep this field is this year.  Also, Cuyahoga Falls and Hurricane (WV) are 2 very strong teams that could crack the top 10.  

The individual race should be very competitive as well!  Defending Champion, sophomore Emma Bryant (Vandalia Butler) is back to try and best this large and talented MMOC field.  She will be pressed by a large group of standout runners including Anne Heuerman and Megan Brewer from Upper Arlington, Rachel Iacofano (SVSM), Emily Zimmerman and Kayla Huffman from Cuyahoga Falls, Megan Buechler and Kathleen Sims from Sacred Heart, Rebecca Craddock from Brunswick, Rachel Banks (Chardon) and Tes Corea from Hiliard Bradley.  Bryant ran 18:39 as a freshman at this meet last year.

It will be exciting to see which teams and individuals rise to the occasion this weekend!

 Boys Competition:

Perennial power Cleveland St. Ignatius is the likely favorite this year. They are ranked #2 in the state and usually race very well at this meet.  St. Ignatius will receive some serious competition from a long list of strong teams - with at least 10 ranked teams in the field.  Look for Dublin Coffman (#5), Mentor (#9), Ashland (#13), Hudson (#14) and Toledo St. John's (#17) to be vying for the top spots on Saturday. Other strong teams include Akron St. Vincent  St. Mary (#5 D2), Sheridan (#14 D2), Hurricane WV, Hilliard Darby (#20), Lancaster and Dublin Jerome (#23).  

The top individuals at this year's MMOC include Luke Wagner and Tom Sullivan of St. Ignatius, Brad Davis of Dublin Jerome, Daniel Reynolds and Chase Hampton of Hilliard Darby, Kyle Mau of Hudson, JT McKay of Northmont, Joe Rosetti of SVSM, Leif McFunderick of Ashland, Tevin Brown and Nick Jarrel of Toledo St. John's and Andre Godbott-Bollam of Brunswick.  Last year's winning time was 15:15 and that time will be challenged this year.

Look for a tight team race and some very quick times from this deep field of outstanding runners!

General Information:

The venue for the 2014 MMOC is at Hilliard Bradley High School (Course Map) on a course that is flat, fast and spectator friendly. The course records are 15:15.2 by Mark Hadley of Boardman and 18:23.3 by Rachael Mahle of Springboro. The Meet records are 15:03.7 by Zach Wills of Mason and 17:44 by Emma Brink of Sacred Heart (KY) established in 2010. The course features a long, straight start, a few trips through the woods, several loops around the fields of Bradley HS and a 350 meter straightaway to the finish.

The energy will be high, the crowds will be large and the runners will be ready to make the running of the 2014 MMOC a must see cross country event!

The races begin at 9:00 am on Saturday. Meet information can be found at www.bradleytrack.org under the MMOC meet index.

Schedule of Races:

9:00 AM                   Boys Middle School 

9:30 AM                   Girls Middle School 

10:00 AM                 Boys Freshman/Sophomore Race 

10:30 AM                 Girls Freshman/Sophomore Race 

11:00 AM                 Boys Race of Champions

11:30 AM                 Girls Race of Champions 

12:00 PM                 Boys Open Race

12:30 PM                 Girls Open Race 

  1:00 PM                 Awards Ceremony

Live results can be found at www.timingfirst.com/results/2014/09-27-HB. Results will be updated soon after each race ends.  http://oh.milesplit.com/ is covering the races and will also have the results, photo galleries and video interviews with the winner.