Toeing the Line #5: at Wisconsin Adidas Invitational
10/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 14, 2015
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter
• Athlete Spotlight: Ben Flanagan
THIS WEEK
Friday, Oct. 16 -- at Wisconsin Adidas Invitational (Madison, Wis.), 11 a.m. CDT
• Game Day Information: Event Information | Course Map 
| Live Results | Cover It Live
This weekend, the eighth-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team travels to the site of the 2015 NCAA Great Lakes Regional, the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin. Action begins at 11 a.m. CDT on Friday (Oct. 16).
U-M will have the opportunity to compete against the best in the Big Ten, and the country, running an 8,000-meter race against 35 other programs. It is the second race at the 8K distance this season for U-M, mimicking the format for the postseason.
U-M will travel 18 athletes to the meet to compete at Wisconsin, with seven running in the collegiate race and another 11 in the open race. The Wolverine harriers will compete against athletes from the following ranked programs: No. 2 Syracuse, No. 4 Stanford, No. 5 Iona, No. 7 Virginia, No. 9 BYU, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 16 Indiana, No. 17 North Carolina State, No. 19 Mississippi, No. 20 UCLA, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 24 Furman No. 26 Iowa State, No. 27 Princeton and No. 28 Columbia.
THINGS TO KNOW
• The 8,000-meter race will feature 35 other Division I teams, including Big Ten members Illinois, No. 16 Indiana, No. 15 Michigan State, Penn State and No. 11 Wisconsin.
• Fifth-year senior co-captain Mason Ferlic won Big Ten and USTFCCCA Athlete of the Week honors last week for his individual title at the Greater Louisville Classic (Oct. 3). Ferlic clocked 23:51.52 in the 8K race for the win, marking his return to action with the varsity lineup.
• U-M opened the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll at No. 12 in the preseason and recently surged to the top 10, where it is No. 8 in the most-recent edition released last week. It is the highest ranking to date under second-year head coach Kevin Sullivan.
• With the women's team ranked No. 5, the current coaches' poll results mark the first week U-M has had both the men's and women's teams in the top 10 since 2008.
• In addition to the 17 ranked programs competing, 10 other teams that received votes in the latest USTFCCCA Coaches' poll will run at the meet, illustrating the competitiveness of this weekend's race: Arizona State, Boise State, Dartmouth, Eastern Kentucky, Florida State, Illinois, New Mexico, Providence, Tulsa and Washington.
• The meet will feature live coverage from the USTFCCCA's Cover It Live page. The meet video is also available for streaming through Flotrack.org, though a pro account is required for access.
• U-M will travel seven athletes to Madison for the headline event: Aaron Baumgarten, Mason Ferlic, Ben Flanagan, Connor Mora, August Pappas, Nick Posada and Tony Smoragiewicz.
• The following athletes will compete in the open meet, set to begin at 1:10 p.m.: Chase Barnett, Micah Beller, Austin Benoit, Jarred Bratley, Will Burke, Kyle Kroon, Colin Martin, Ethan Martin, Alex Moran, Nick Renberg and Cody Snavely.
• In its most-recent scored meet, U-M had a second-place finish with 67 points at the Greater Louisville Classic (Oct. 3), led by the individual title-winner, Mason Ferlic, who made his season debut for the varsity lineup.
Top Returning Times at 8,000 meters (from 2014)
| Athlete | Time |
| Mason Ferlic | 23:41.3 |
| Ben Flanagan | 23:58.8 |
| Tony Smoragiewicz | 24:04.9 |
| Aaron Baumgarten | 24:06.9 |
| August Pappas | 24:19.2 |
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Wishing a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all of our Canuck teammates & coaches, past & present! #GoBlue #GoCanadaGo pic.twitter.com/ctxtqchhQl
-- Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) October 12, 2015
UP NEXT
Friday, Oct. 23 -- at EMU Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.), 4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 1 -- at Big Ten Championships (Evanston, Ill.), 10:45 a.m. CDT
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
