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Miami Insider -- Women’s cross country team ‘guts’ out MAC title

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12:27 AM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

When the Miami University women’s cross country team took off in the mud in the Mid-American Conference Championships, senior Amanda Mirochna said the race became “a gut race. It wasn’t just about talent. It was about who wanted it more.”

The answer came in loud and clear when Miami won its second straight MAC title at Ohio University on Halloween afternoon.

The RedHawks finished 19 points ahead of the same Toledo team that had finished ahead of them in the Pre-Nationals two weeks earlier, the same Toledo team that was ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Poll. Miami was ranked 10th.

“It was really exciting, because this year in the MAC nobody thought we were going to do it, and we did it,” said Mirochna, a native of Naperville, Ill., who led Miami with a third-place individual finish.

“The conditions were pretty bad,” she added. “You would sink into the ground running through it, and the guys’ race was before ours and that made it even worse.

“We knew going in that Toledo had beaten us. We knew we had to go up to the front as quickly as we could,” Mirochna said, noting that teammate Rachel Patterson, a junior, led that early charge to the front.

Scoring is spread out

Miami’s top-ranked hockey team will taken an evenly balanced scoring attack when it travels to Michigan to face the fourth-ranked Wolverines on Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday. The puck will drop at 7:35 p.m. both nights.

There is a four-way tie for the Miami lead in goals. Forwards Carter Camper, Jarod Palmer and Tommy Wingels, and defenseman Matt Tomassoni each have three.

Walk-on makes team

The men’s basketball team added Michael Aluise, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior, to its roster recently as a walk-on.

Aluise, a forward-guard, is a Cincinnati native and graduate of St. Xavier High School.

A full head of steam

The Miami women’s soccer team will take a three-game winning streak into its MAC tournament semifinal contest against second-seeded Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. Friday in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

The RedHawk defense has been on a roll. Senior goalkeeper Krista Pace, who holds the school record for most shutouts in a season (eight) and career (16), has recorded three straight shutouts, and Miami has not allowed more than one goal in any of its last 13 matches.

Should the sixth-seeded RedHawks (11-7-1 overall) beat Eastern Michigan (10-3-6), they would face top-seeded Central Michigan, the host team, or fifth-seeded Ball State in the championship match at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Still in the MAC race

The RedHawks volleyball team remained in the running for the MAC regular-season title with back-to-back road victories last week.

Miami (14-10, 9-3 MAC) is two matches behind Ohio in the overall conference standings and one behind Western Michigan.

The RedHawks’ four remaining matches all are at home, including contests this week against Bowling Green (7 p.m. Thursday) and Western Michigan (5 p.m. Saturday).

Field hockey is No. 3

The Miami field hockey team defeated Kent State 2-1 on Saturday, but the RedHawks lost a chance to win a share of the MAC title when they fell to Ohio 1-0 on Sunday.

Miami opens MAC tournament play at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Muncie, Ind., where the third-seeded RedHawks (11-9 overall) face sixth-seeded Missouri State (5-15).

If the RedHawks win, they would play second-seeded Kent State, which had a first-round bye, in the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in Muncie.

Also coming up

Men’s and women’s cross country: Great Lakes Regional, at Bloomington, Ind., 11 a.m. Nov. 14.

Men’s basketball: Exhibition game against Saginaw Valley State, at home, 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Men’s swimming: Home meet against Ohio State, 5 p.m. Nov. 13.

Women’s basketball: Exhibition game against Tiffin, at home, 1 p.m. Sunday.

Women’s swimming: At Toledo, 5 p.m. Friday.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

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