Toeing the Line #4: at Louisville Classic
9/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 30, 2015
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• Athlete Spotlight: Mason Ferlic
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Oct. 3 -- at Greater Louisville Classic (Louisville, Ky.), 9:30 a.m.
• Meet Information: Course Map 
| Results | Follow the Meet
This weekend, the No. 10-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team travels this Saturday (Oct. 3, 9:30 a.m.) to the site of the 2015 NCAA Championships, E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, in Louisville, Kentucky. U-M will have an opportunity to see the national championship course early, running an 8,000-meter race against 34 other programs.
U-M will travel 12 athletes to the meet in-uniform to race against athletes from the following programs: Belmont, Bucknell, Davidson, Elon, East Tennessee State, No. 28 Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State, Illinois, No. 8 Iona, La Salle, Lipscomb, Louisville, Loyola (Ill.), Massachusetts-Lowell, Middle Tennessee State, No. 13 Mississippi, Morehead State, North Florida, Penn State, Richmond, Southern Indiana, Tennessee, Utah Valley, Wabash, Western Ontario and No. 4 Wisconsin.
[ More Information ]
THINGS TO KNOW
• This weekend marks the 14th annual Greater Louisville Classic, hosted by the Louisville Sports Commission. As in past years, the race is held seven weeks before the NCAA Championships (Nov. 21), which will also be run at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, the host of five NAIA National Championships, the 2010 and 2014 NCAA DII National Championships and the 2012 NCAA DI National Championships. Saturday will be U-M's first time competing in the meet.
• The 8,000-meter race will also feature many other DI teams, including Big Ten members Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State and No. 4 Wisconsin.
• U-M opened the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll at No. 12 in the preseason and recently surged into the top 10 -- landing at No. 10 -- where it remained in the most-recent edition released earlier this week. It is the highest ranking to date under second-year head coach Kevin Sullivan.
• With the women's team ranked No. 8, this week's 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.
• U-M will travel 12 athletes to Louisville: Chase Barnett, Aaron Baumgarten, Jarred Bratley, Billy Bund, Mason Ferlic, Ben Flanagan, Kyle Kroon, Connor Mora, August Pappas, Nick Posada, Nick Renberg and Tony Smoragiewicz.
• Making his season debut will be fifth-year senior co-captain Mason Ferlic, who has been on the shelf for the majority of this young season, resting his legs for this weekend.
• In its most-recent scored meet, U-M took the team title with 35 points at Penn State's Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational (Sept. 18), led by two in the top three, including runner-up Aaron Baumgarten.
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
@ksully330 has confirmed: I now share the 1000m Arb hill record with @alan_webb1 in 3:10. Am I a sub-3:50 miler yet?
-- Mason Ferlic (@masonferlic) September 29, 2015
UP NEXT
Friday, Oct. 16 -- at Wisconsin Adidas Invitational (Madison, Wis.), 11 a.m. CDT
Friday, Oct. 23 -- at EMU Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.)
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
