2015 Season Preview: Women's Cross Country
8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
• Social Media: Twitter | Facebook
2015 OUTLOOK
Now healthy, the team's top two of Erin Finn and Shannon Osika return to competition for the Maize and Blue, aided by the leadership of fifth-year seniors Devon Hoppe, Anna Pasternak and Laura Addison.
Finn was the top-finishing Wolverine in three of her four races a year ago, and both she and Osika are coming off strong outdoor track seasons. Both are historically strong starters -- Osika has won the last three Michigan Opens (2012-14), which have kicked off the U-M seasons in recent years, and Finn only has one non-top-five finish in seven career regular-season races.
Returning juniors Gina Sereno and Jaimie Phelan, who both scored for U-M in the postseason last fall, also bring depth and a competitive edge to this season's lineup. Sereno had a breakout 2014 with five finishes in the top 31, and along with her classmates Phelan, Corinne Florie, Courtney Munley and others, she will be expected to strengthen the bottom half Wolverine lineup.
Michigan always maintains the middle-distance and distance areas as a focus in recruiting, and McGuire has pulled in another strong class to add depth this year. Princeton graduate-transfer Erika Fleuhr joins the mix with postseason experience at the Ivy League level, and more than a dozen middle-distance and distance athletes join her as freshmen.
STUDENT-ATHLETES TO WATCH
Junior Erin Finn -- Coming off a spectacular freshman season in 2013 that saw her claim the individual Big Ten Title and finish runner-up at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, Finn was poised for a big 2014 until injury kept her from competing in the postseason. Now healthy once more, the four-time conference champion in track and field will seek her second All-America finish in Louisville in November.
Her final race of the 2014 season came at Pre-Nationals in mid-October, and Finn returned during the outdoor track season to defend her 10,000m title at the Big Ten Championships. She secured her third career USTFCCCA All-America honor at the NCAA Championships, this time at 5,000m.
Senior Shannon Osika -- Osika was also hampered by an injury last season; her 2014 campaign ended after the Big Ten Championships, where she ran to a sixth-place finish. She has won three consecutive Michigan Opens (2012-14), and although the meet will not be run this year, it is a testament to the strong starts she has had in recent seasons. Osika was first team all-conference a year ago and has two second-team honors under her belt as well.
She was Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2012, giving U-M two of the last three recipients of the award, and helped the Maize and Blue to a Big Ten title that year, earning back-to-back Great Lakes Region titles in 2012-13 as well. Osika is two-time all-region in addition to her three all-conference honors and also bolstered her résumé on the track last spring.
Junior Gina Sereno -- Sereno made her postseason debuts last season, running a collegiate-best time at the Great Lakes Regional meet and also competing in the NCAA meet. Sereno redshirted in 2013, so her contributions last year only serve as encouragement for more positive results to come. She will need to be a staple in U-M's top five behind Finn and Osika for the Wolverines to reach their potential, and a strong track season indicates more success for Sereno.
On the track, she scored at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets, including PRs in both races, and also qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds at 10,000m, finishing 16th to narrowly miss qualifying for the NCAA Meet. Sereno is poised for a big 2015-16 campaign.
From left: Erin Finn, Shannon Osika, Gina Sereno
KEY COMPETITION
Greater Louisville Classic (Oct. 3), Louisville, Ky. -- The NCAA Championships migrate from Cross Country Town U.S.A. (Terre Haute, Ind.) to the University of Louisville this year, and U-M has made a point to get its feet on the course early with the Greater Louisville Classic. After what figure to be cold races on hard terrain near Lake Michigan at the Big Ten Championships (Evanston, Ill.) and in windy Wisconsin for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Madison, Wisconsin), it will do the Wolverines good to return to Louisville for the NCAA Championships knowing they have already run the course.
Now entering his 24th season at the helm of the program, head coach Mike McGuire made it a point to get the Wolverines' spikes on the ground early at the site of the national championship race, and with the championship meet taking its first detour from the familiar course in Terre Haute, Indiana, since 2012, he is giving U-M two competitive races to find their collective footing in Kentucky. [ Full Schedule ]
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mike McGuire
On his message to this year's team as the preseason winds down ... "We are going to focus on finishing this season. Last year the expectations were high, coming off of a fourth-place finish (at the NCAA meet) the year before. I think we have a good mix of veteran leadership and talented newcomers, plus we made a few additions through transfers, so we are excited to get going. Now we have an opportunity to come closer together as a team at camp this week and next week, and we will need to train with focus to come back and start off on the right foot."
Senior Shannon Osika
On her excitement for this season to begin ... "I am really excited for these coming seasons, starting with cross country. I have talked to some of the girls, and everyone seems very motivated so far. There are a lot of new people, with freshmen and transfers coming on board, but I think I have met almost everyone. Having everyone give off that competitive feeling makes us all motivated and it lets us create an encouraging environment. There is a lot of positive energy."
2014 RECAP
U-M was the top-ranked team for the first time in program history at the start of the 2014 preseason, but head coach Mike McGuire was adamant that it was only a projection and not a coronation. Still, U-M showed talent with the best teams in the nation, winning two of its three scored meets during the regular season.
The team remained at the top of the polls for five weeks through mid-October until injury hampered the Wolverines' top seven in the postseason. Behind the guidance of senior co-captains Alexandra Leptich, Megan Weschler and Brook Handler, U-M took fourth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The Maize and Blue looks forward to this coming November, when the team will have the opportunity to improve on its 18th-place finish at the national meet in 2014.
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
