The Warriors have 14 letterwinners returning.

Men's Cross Country 8/25/2022 2:30:00 PM Zachary Manning, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Cross Country Has High Expectations for 2022

The Warriors finished 15th at the National Championship meet last season.

DETROIT -- After a successful 2021 season, which saw the Wayne State University men's cross country team finish 15th at the NCAA Division II National Championship meet, the Warriors have their sights set on even loftier goals for the 2022 campaign. WSU expects to make a trip back to the National Championship meet and compete with some of the top schools in the sport.

2021 RECAP
The men's team came out strong in 2021, finishing first or second in the first three meets of the year. The Green and Gold placed second at the Warrior Challenge before collecting first-place finishes at both the Roy Griak Invitational and the Saginaw Valley State Invite. In the always challenging Lewis Crossover, the Warriors continued their hot stretch of racing, collecting fourth place out of 24 teams. To conclude the regular season WSU tallied another winning outing, earning first place at the Northwood Invitational.

The postseason brought more success, as Wayne State earned third place at the GLIAC Championships. The Warriors then claimed seventh place at the NCAA Midwest Regional, which was good enough for an at-large bid into the Division II National Championship meet. WSU's 15th-place finish at the championship meet was tied for the sixth best in program history.

WELCOME BACK
The Warriors return 14 letterwinners from a year ago, including a pair of All-Americans in Ransom Allen (Ithaca, Mich.) and Zac Truman (Utica, Mich. / Eisenhower). The duo finished in the top-40 at last year's National Championship meet. Allen and Truman were also All-GLIAC performers.

Another returnee with strong expectations will be Eli DiCerbo (Clinton Twp., Mich. / Fraser / Macomb Mathematics, Science and Technology Center), who earned Second Team All-GLIAC honors last season.

The Warriors will have a lot of depth, considering Zach Applegate (Bowling Green, Ohio), Ethan Byrnes (Plymouth, Mich.), Jeremy Cavallo (Davisburg, Mich. / Clarkston), Corban Hauch (West Olive, Mich. / Zeeland West), Carson Nicoletti (Shelby Twp., Mich. / Utica), Donald O'Keefe (Troy, Mich.), Ulises Rodriguez (Pontiac, Mich. / Oxford), Zahid Salodawala (Romeoville, Ill. / Plainfield East), D'Anthony Shaw (Romulus, Mich. / Summit Academy North) and Nico Trevino (Saginaw, Mich. / Heritage) all raced for WSU during the regular season a season ago.

George Drallos (Commerce, Twp., Mich. / Lakeland) returns to the squad after not competing since 2019. A couple other faces to know are Tyler Buchanan (Fenton, Mich. / Linden) and Stevan Stajic (Belle River, Ont. / Tecumseh Vista Academy). Stajic ran in three meets as an unattached athlete, while Buchanan didn't compete in any of the teams eight meets.

NEW FACES
The Green and Gold will welcome seven new faces to the fold, many of which could make an impact on the 2022 roster. WSU added a pair of transfers in Jack Wilson (Washington, Mich. / Romeo (Butler)) and Antonio Chapa (Portage Ind. / Portage (Purdue Northwest)). Along with the transfers are five freshmen in Adam Hafeli (Lake Orion, Mich.), Kenny Minto (Davison, Mich.), Ty Nagy (Commerce Twp., Mich. / White Lake Lakeland), Anthony Vinson (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower) and Jack Wallace (Ray, Mich. / Romeo).

2022 SEASON
WSU will kick things off with the Northwood Invitational on Sept. 10. The Warriors won the event last season. Following that, the Green and Gold will head east for the Lock Haven Invitational in Lock Haven, Pa.

The team will then head back to Michigan for the Lansing Community College Invite, which is set for Sept. 30. After that, the Warriors will get a taste of the Midwest Regional course when they head to Kenosha, Wis., for the Lucian Rosa Invite on Oct. 8. WSU closes out the regular season hosting the Warrior Challenge at Willow Metro Park, which is also the site of the 2022 GLIAC Championships.

The conference meet will take place on Nov. 4, with the Midwest Regional kicking off just a few weeks later on Nov. 19. The season culminates on Dec. 3 in Seattle, Wash., with the NCAA Division II National Championship meet.

"We always try to set up our schedule with the championship meets in mind, and I think we've done a solid job of that this year," remarked sixth-year head coach Grant Lofdahl. "The Northwood meet will be a good rust buster and workout for us on a nice, fast course.  Lock Haven is a new meet for us, but they have a fast course and traditionally very good competition there.  We will send a B squad to Lansing the following week, since we have enough depth on both the men's and women's sides that our second groups will be competitive.

"The A squad will travel to Parkside, which is one of the best all-around cross country courses in the U.S., and should be highly competitive as well.  It will also give us a chance to preview the regional course. We are very excited to host the GLIAC Championships on November 4th.  Our course at Willow Metro Park is fun and challenging, and great for spectators, and we hope to have a lot of Warrior supporters out there.  Both of our teams are going to look to improve on last year's third-place finishes. We are also aiming to send both teams to nationals, which has been a goal for a few years now and hopefully this is the year we achieve it."

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Players Mentioned

Ransom Allen: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

Zach Applegate: 6' 2"; Redshirt Senior

Tyler Buchanan: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore

Ethan Byrnes: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior

Jeremy Cavallo: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

Antonio Chapa: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

Eli DiCerbo: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Adam Hafeli: 5' 8"; Freshman

Corban Hauch: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Kenny Minto: 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ransom Allen
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

Zach Applegate
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Senior

Tyler Buchanan
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore

Ethan Byrnes
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior

Jeremy Cavallo
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

Antonio Chapa
: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

Eli DiCerbo
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Adam Hafeli
: 5' 8"; Freshman

Corban Hauch
: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Kenny Minto
: 6' 1"; Freshman