TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's and women's cross country teams kick off the 2018 season at the Toledo Opener at Ottawa Park Golf Course in Toledo on Friday, Aug. 31. The women's race will kick off at 6:30 p.m. with the men's to follow.

After posting a runner-up finish at last year's Mid-American Conference Championships, the Toledo women's cross country team looks to start the season off strong.

"The goal for us on the women's side is to always contend for the conference title," said head coach Linh Nguyen. "We have three upperclassmen in Athena Welsh, Jennifer Lichter, and Petronela Simiuc who will probably be leading our team."

Welsh clocked a personal best (20:58) at the 2017 NCAA Great Lakes Regionals and led the Rockets in last year's MAC Championships, finishing 10th overall. Lichter, another strong contender for the Rockets, finished 29th at the conference championships and qualified for the 2018 NCAA Track Regionals in the 10K. Simiuc placed 35th at the conference championships and recorded a personal best (21:19.6) at the Adidas D1 Pre-Nationals. In the spring, Simiuc qualified for the NCAA Regionals in the 1500-meters and missed the championships by mere seconds.

On the men's side, the Rockets have their sights set on climbing the ranks of the MAC.

"We're going to have some new faces this year, along with a few older guys who I think have made a big jump in the spring," Nguyen said, "I know they've been putting in good work, and I'm looking forward to seeing them run."
 
The men's top returnees are seniors Brian Stubelt, Jake Wistinghausen, and Josh Oeters, as well as junior Dismas Koech.
 
At last year's MAC Championships, Dismas Koech placed 35th with a time of 25:41.7, while senior Titus Koech (no relation) secured 39th (25:48.6) and Stubelt finished 75th (27:12.1).

Teams Participating (Men's & Women's) 
Toledo
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Eastern Michigan 
Kent State
Ohio