Season Review: 2015 Michigan Women's Cross Country
12/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Dec. 8, 2015
• Team Captain: Devon Hoppe
• Big Ten Conference: 2nd Place
• NCAA Great Lakes Regional: 1st Place
• NCAA Championships: 6th Place
The University of Michigan women's cross country team accomplished success at the highest level during the 2015 regular season, achieving on the conference, regional and national stages. The team captured its 10th-ever NCAA Great Lakes Regional title last month (Nov. 13) and placed sixth at the NCAA Championships, giving the program two top-six finishes in the last three seasons and 12 top-10 showings overall at the national meet. All 10 of the team's regional crowns and 11 of the program's 12 top-10 finishes have come under head coach Mike McGuire, who was honored with his ninth Regional Coach of the Year award this fall. Led by two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year junior Erin Finn, the Wolverines proved once again why the Maize and Blue has become synonymous with cross country success.
Team Highlights
• Michigan's NCAA Championships finish was the highlight of the 2015 campaign, featuring a sixth-place showing and Erin Finn's second career All-America finish. In truth, Finn's race was far more eventful than it may seem. A short distance in, she was clipped on both heels, and lost her shoes.
• Finn ran more than 4,000 meters of the 6K race in her bare feet and still finished 19th in a gritty All-America performance that will be talked about for years to come. Though Michigan's fifth scorer finished 120th overall, there was just a 49-second split from runners one through five in a meet where only the national champion New Mexico Lobos scored in double digits.
• The Wolverines are traditionally aided by a senior-laden roster, but this fall, just six seniors were at McGuire's disposal. The leadership of Devon Hoppe, Anna Pasternak and others kept U-M firmly on task, and the first six weeks of the regular season was a testament to that. U-M went 109-1 during the regular season, including a 17-1 mark against ranked opponents, and kept its collective foot on the gas all year long.
• The Maize and Blue first proved its potency at the Commodore Classic (Sept. 19), with Erin Finn taking the win, while U-M placed all five scorers in the top 20 with a 48-second split -- and that includes Finn's 19-second margin of victory in her season debut. U-M moved from 12th in the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll to eighth after that win and climbed again to fifth after winning the Greater Louisville Classic two weeks later (Oct. 3) with a one-two finish from Finn and Shannon Osika.
• The Wolverines went on to win the most highly-contested regular season event, the NCAA Pre-Nationals Meet (Oct. 17), by 20 points, with four athletes setting personal-bests. After a narrow five-point margin of victory gave Penn State the Big Ten Championship, U-M rebounded to six All-Region performances at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, earning the program's second title in the last three seasons.
Individual Highlights
• Junior standout Erin Finn was the top athlete all season long for U-M, winning three meets and earning top-six finishes in each race this season before the NCAA meet. Her 19th-place finish there made her the seventh-ever Wolverine to earn multiple All-America honors. She was just the second U-M athlete to earn multiple Big Ten Athlete of the Year honors, joining Katie McGregor, and became the first athlete from any school in 15 years to accomplish the feat.
• Fifth-year senior Anna Pasternak stepped up in a big way for U-M down the stretch. She ran a collegiate-best 6K time at the Big Ten Championships and followed that race up with a career-best 11th-place showing at the regional meet. McGuire called her performance "our highlight for the weekend," and the all-region honor Pasternak earned marked a fitting end to her Wolverine career.
• Senior Shannon Osika closed her U-M cross country career on a strong note as well. Osika had a pair of early-season top-five finishes, including runner-up at the Greater Louisville Classic with a new PR. She finished 13th, 21st and 16th in the Pre-Nats, Big Ten Championship and NCAA Great Lakes Regional meets, respectively, showing consistency and reliability down the stretch. Osika earned the rare feat of being part of three Great Lakes Regional Championship teams (2012-13, '15) as a Wolverine.
• Junior/sophomore Gina Sereno proved to be a steadying hand for U-M this fall, recording top-20 finishes in five of six regular-season meets. Her PR at the Big Ten Championships produced a 10th-place finish overall she earned all-region recognition two weekends later with a 17th-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet. Sereno and her classmate Jaimie Phelan will certainly be a critical piece for the Wolverines moving forward.
Honors and Awards
Erin
Finn
Jaimie
Phelan
Gina
Sereno
Anna
Pasternak
Mike
McGuire
Big Ten Conference
Athlete of the Year: Erin Finn
All-Conference (First Team): Erin Finn
All-Conference (Second Team): Jaimie Phelan; Gina Sereno
Sportsmanship Award: Anna Pasternak
NCAA Great Lakes Region
Coach of the Year: Mike McGuire
All-Great Lakes Region
Erin Finn (5th)
Anna Pasternak (11th)
Shannon Osika (16th)
Gina Sereno (17th)
Jaimie Phelan (20th)
Big Ten Athlete of the Week
Erin Finn (Sept. 23; Oct. 7; Oct. 21)
Academic All-Big Ten
Sydney Badger, So., undeclared
Rachel Barrett, So., undeclared
Claire Borchers, So., undeclared
Olivia Brackett, Sr., international studies
Kali Dent, So., undeclared
Erin Finn, Jr., biochemistry
Corinne Florie, Jr., earth and environmental science
Devon Hoppe, Sr., international studies
Ellie Leonard, So., undeclared
Sophie Linn, Jr., sport management
Gina McNamara, Sr., international studies
Anna Pasternak, Sr., honors college
Sarah Zieve, Jr., public policy
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
