X-country edged by EMU

The University of Akron’s Cross Country team during the MAC championships.

GoZips

The University of Akron’s Cross Country team during the MAC championships.

By Forrest Dukes, Sports Editor

Zips lost to the Eagles of Eastern Michigan in the MAC championships.

For the second year, the Zips place second in the Mid-American Conference Championships to EMU, who has now won the title for their third consecutive year.

Akron finished the meet with an 18 point improvement from last year’s championship and had five runners inside the top 15 finishes. Leading the Zips were Clayton Murphy, Kyle Cochrun, Trevor Norris Dan Zupan and Dylan Papp, while Aaron Howkins and Garrett Chrichlow also finished in great timing and placed within the top 30.

At the conclusion of the meet four of Akron’s runners were greeted with MAC honors for their performances throughout the year.  The lone first team All-MAC honors went to Murphy while his teammates Cochrun, Norrix and Zupan earned second team honors in the MAC as well.

On the women’s side they placed 11th with the Rockets of Toledo earned MAC championships. Top runners for the Zips were Kayla Whitlow who finished in 19th and Natalie Zidd who placed 50th.

The cross country squad will have their next meet Friday, Nov. 14 when the Zips travel to Madison, Wisconsin for the 2014 Great Lakes Regional Championships.