Toeing the Line #6: at EMU Classic
10/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 21, 2015
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THIS WEEK
Friday, Oct. 23 -- at EMU Classic (Dexter, Mich.), 4 p.m.
The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team returns to familiar territory this weekend, running a 5,000-meter race at the Dexter Mills Metropark in Dexter, Michigan, where U-M had hosted for Michigan Open in years past. This weekend, U-M will run in Eastern Michigan University's EMU Classic.
It is the second Eastern Michigan-hosted event of the fall after the EMU Celebration back in September. The 5K race will prove to be a useful point of reference for the Wolverines, who ran there last month, particularly for young team members who have not had the opportunity to crack the varsity lineup to this point.
THINGS TO KNOW
• This weekend marks the last meet before the upcoming Big Ten Championships are held in a little more than one week (Nov. 1). The site for the conference postseason event is the Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, where Northwestern University is hosting the meet.
• Last weekend, U-M took down 15 ranked teams, including three top-seven ranked opponents, en route to the program's best-ever finish (3rd) in seven years at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational.
• Fifth-year senior co-captain Mason Ferlic won Big Ten and USTFCCCA Athlete of the Week honors recently. Both awards came in the wake of his individual title at the Greater Louisville Classic (Oct. 3).
• The Wolverines opened the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll at No. 12 in the preseason and recently surged to the top 10, where they were No. 5 in the most-recent edition released last week. It is the highest ranking to date under second-year head coach Kevin Sullivan.
• Michigan's top-five ranking also marks the team's best ranking since 2003 and the second-best in program history. With the U-M women ranked at No. 2, this week's poll marks the first since 2004 that the Maize and Blue has had both programs in the nation's top five.
• U-M will travel eight athletes in uniform for the 5K event: Chase Barnett, Austin Benoit, Jarred Bratley, Will Burke, Kyle Kroon, Colin Martin, Alex Moran and Cody Snavely. Several more Wolverines will compete unattached.
Top Returning Times at 5,000 meters (from last year's Michigan Open)
| Athlete | Time |
| Tony Smoragiewicz | 15:19.8 |
| Mason Ferlic | 15:20.6 |
| Ben Flanagan | 15:21.8 |
| Aaron Baumgarten | 15:24.6 |
| August Pappas | 15:26.2 |
TWEET OF THE WEEK
SNEEK PEEK of our latest FloFim with the @umichtrack men... #TheyHaveTheFirepower pic.twitter.com/IdmGhcqIyL
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) October 21, 2015
UP NEXT
Sunday, Nov. 1 -- at Big Ten Championships (Evanston, Ill.), 10:45 CDT
Friday, Nov. 13 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Madison, Wis.), Noon CDT
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
