Toeing the Line #8: at NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Nov. 12, 2015

Men's Cross Country

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THIS WEEK
Friday, Nov. 13 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Madison, Wis.), 1 p.m. CST

Riding high off the program's first Big Ten title under second-year head coach Kevin Sullivan, the fifth-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team are ready to continue the 2015 postseason with Friday's (Nov. 13) NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The 10,000-meter race will be run at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin.

Michigan's travel squad will include: Aaron Baumgarten, Micah Beller, Mason Ferlic, Ben Flanagan, Connor Mora, August Pappas, Nick Posada, Nick Renberg and Tony Smoragiewicz.

The NCAA Great Lakes Region contains two of the top 30 teams in the nation, including Big Ten foe No. 30 Indiana. All in all, the race will include 105 athletes competing from all 15 programs in the region.

The Thomas Zimmer Championship Course is a world-class course offering challenging and exciting terrain for runners and elevated viewing for spectators.

Located adjacent to University Ridge Golf Course, UW's cross country course features an exterior loop of approximately 2,500 meters and an interior loop of 1,000 meters. Both loops cover the area's rolling hills and valleys, while the outside loop also runs through a section of dense woods.

[ More on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course ]

THINGS TO KNOW

• U-M is familiar with the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, where the team ran its last scored meet of the regular season, the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational (Oct. 17). The team's third-place finish there was the program's best in seven years of running the meet.

• Michigan is coming off its first Big Ten title in 17 years (1998). The Maize and Blue scored 63 points to claim victory over the rest of the conference, led by runner-up fifth-year senior co-captain Mason Ferlic, who was the race's individual runner-up.

• U-M placed three in the top nine and all five scorers in the top 25 to take the win in Chicago two weekends ago (Nov. 1). Ferlic's second-place showing was the best by any Wolverine since Nate Brannen took runner-up in 2003.

• Coach Kevin Sullivan was recognized by his peers as the Big Ten's Coach of the Year for his role in leading U-M to its first conference crown since his own days in Ann Arbor. When the program won its first-ever regional title in 1997, Sullivan was a senior member of the team.

• U-M posted a 66-3 mark this fall, including a 20-3 mark against the Great Lakes Region. That cumulative record has produced the No. 5 overall ranking in the latest edition of the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll.

• U-M has been running at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet since 1993, and has collected three regional titles since then. A team victory on Friday would give Sullivan his first career title as head coach and the program's first since 2013.

• A top-three team finish on Friday would guarantee Michigan's team bid to the 2015 NCAA Championships later this month (Nov. 21).

• Ferlic has been nothing short of spectacular for the Maize and Blue this fall. He has led U-M in the last 16 races in which he has competed, including every postseason since he cracked the varsity lineup in 2013.

• Ferlic currently sits at No. 14 in the country in the latest edition of Saucony's Flo50 rankings.

• Michigan returns six members from its 2014 NCAA Great Lakes Regional lineup.

Top Returning Times from the 2014 NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Athlete	Time
Mason Ferlic	30:25
Ben Flanagan	30:31
August Pappas	30:38
Aaron Baumgarten	30:54
Tony Smoragiewicz	31:19
Nick Posada	32:00

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Watch INSIDE: Michigan | The Next Level (Ep. 2) --> https://t.co/6nH3NjRtnX pic.twitter.com/3RYqjTKixr

-- FloTrack (@FloTrack) November 11, 2015

UP NEXT
Saturday, Nov. 21 -- at NCAA Championships (Louisville, Ky.), 1 p.m.

Communications Contact: Chad Shepard

University of Michigan Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tony Smoragiewicz

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