IMMACULATA, Pa. – Immaculata University's men's and women's cross country teams are primed for Saturday's Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship at McDade Park in Scranton, Pa. The women's 5K race will lead off the events at 11 a.m., and the men's 8K race will follow at noon.
 
Both Immaculata squads have added several talented runners for the 2015 season, which has shown in the Mighty Macs' preparations during the last two months for the conference championship. Immaculata has competed in six different races along the way to see how they will stack up against the CSAC competition, with the women's team capturing one team title and one individual top finish, and the men's team had two individual medalist awards.
 
"I expect great things out of both teams this coming weekend," head coach Alex Proctor said. "At the beginning of the season, the men's and women's teams were both slotted third in the preseason poll, and I feel we will live up to that prediction on the men's side, and will exceed those expectations on the women's."

Last year, Immaculata's men's team placed fourth overall, but it was Angel Chimal Rodriguez who highlighted the men's effort with his CSAC individual title as he finished the course in a time of 26:19. Will Martin came in 13th at the 2014 championship to earn Second Team All-CSAC with a time of 29:21.
 
Immaculata's 2015 men's team is led by seniors in Rodriguez and Martin, who look to have repeat performances from last season's championship. Joining the pair is senior Ryan Schwalm, sophomore Nicholas Richardson and freshman Michael Wamsher.

On the men's side, Immaculata has competed against every team in the CSAC during the season with only Cairn, Marywood, Keystone, and Gwynedd Mercy placing ahead of the Mighty Macs in the team standings. Saturday's championship meet should be another battle between these five teams as they challenge for the top positions in the team standings.
 
Rodriguez, who has been the Mighty Macs' top finisher at every meet this season, has two wins under his belt including at the CSAC Preview Meet and the Immaculata Invitational. The Mighty Macs will need strong finishes from Martin, Richardson, Schwalm and Wamsher as look to break into the top three in the team standings.
 
"It would be really great to see Angel get his second conference title and Will make another top 15 appearance," Proctor said. "Both seniors have worked very hard and should be right there during the race. It will just come down to them having confidence in their training and themselves.  In addition, I would not be surprised if Nick isn't too far behind Will considering the workouts Nick has been putting in. If he is able to do that, as a team we will be in good shape."
 
The Mighty Macs' women's squad had their highest finish in a conference championship meet since 2000 when Immaculata took third at last year's championship.  Immaculata returns its top three runners, who all finished in the field's top 25 in last season's championship. Diana Cusick, who was a Second Team All-CSAC selection, placed ninth with a time of 24:25, while Bridget Doherty (25:35) and Cayla Rimkis (25:37) were 22nd and 23rd, respectively.

The Mighty Mac women, who won the final race leading up to championships, have been competitive against their CSAC competition all season. Immaculata has consistently placed ahead of Cairn, Keystone, Neumann and Gwynedd Mercy in prior races this season. The Mighty Macs' toughest competition for the CSAC crown will come from Marywood and Centenary, who are the only teams to place ahead of them this season. However, if the Mighty Macs have good performance and run like they have in previous meets, Immaculata has a real chance at bringing home a CSAC championship.

A piece of the Mighty Macs' success this year has been Cusick, who has paced Immaculata in all six races. Cusick picked up her second collegiate victory last week at the Immaculata Invitational, and has placed in the top 25 four times this season. She had an eighth-place showing on the championship course earlier this season at the CSAC Preview Meet with a time of 22:29.6.
 
"As for the women's team, Diana is really doing some of the best running and racing I've seen from her over the past three years," Proctor said. "Although Emma Doughman (Marywood) is the huge favorite to win the race, I feel the second and third place spots are wide open, and Diana is such a tough runner, I know she can be there to grab one of them up."  
 
Cusick along with returners Doherty, Rimkis, Mary Ellen Grap and Emily Lowe, and newcomers Mackenzie Greene and Emily Cardie, are a strong group capable for leading the Mighty to the top of the championship field.
 
Along with Cusick's strong showing, Immaculata had three other runners in the top 20 at the CSAC Preview Meet as the team took third place, just eight points behind second-place finisher Centenary. Greene finished 13th at the CSAC Preview Meet with a time of 23:40.8, and Doherty (23:55.3) and Rimkis (23:56.3) were 17th and 18th, respectively.
 
"Cayla and Mackenzie are both running and racing well, and I expect them to both make first or second team all-conference," Proctor said. "Bridget should be with them too in the mix as long as she stays confident. In addition, I expect Mary Ellen, Emily Cardie and Emily Lowe all should be near the top 25."

Following the conference championship, Immaculata will take a week off before competing in the NCAA Mideast Regional, which is being hosted by Dickinson at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa.