Season Review: 2017 Michigan Women's Cross Country

Redshirt seniors Jamie Morrissey and Gina Sereno led the University of Michigan women's cross country team through regular-season adversity to a prolific Big Ten and NCAA postseason performance during the 2017 campaign.

• Big Ten Conference: Team Champion
• NCAA Great Lakes Region: Team Champion
• NCAA Championships: 9th Place

Coming off arguably the best season in the history of University of Michigan women's cross country, the 2017 squad -- led by a pair of redshirt senior All-Americans in Jamie Morrissey and Gina Sereno -- once again led the Wolverines to Big Ten supremacy and national prominence. After an up-and-down regular-season slate, head coach Mike McGuire had his squad laser-focused on a strong postseason run that saw the Wolverines win Big Ten and NCAA Great Lakes Regional team titles on the way to a ninth-place national finish. The veteran experience of Sereno and the meteoric rises of Morrissey and junior Claire Borchers from national-level competitors on the track into national-level competitors on the trail proved to be Michigan's recipe for success during the fall of 2017.

Women's Cross Country

Team Highlights

• The Wolverines excelled in their 16th-consecutive NCAA Cross Country Championships appearance (third-longest active streak in the nation), following All-Americans Morrissey and Sereno to a ninth-place finish in the team standings. The showing -- topping Wisconsin for the best in the Big Ten by one spot -- was Michigan's fifth top-10 result in the past six seasons, marking just the second time in program history the women have had such a sustained stretch of excellence.

Sereno set the tone early for the Wolverines, as she settled in at 27th by the four-kilometer split of the 6K race, and ultimately finished 28th overall. Morrissey, meanwhile, made a strong late-race move over the hilliest portion of the otherwise flat course to move from the mid-40s at 4K to 22nd at the finish. The two were running alongside one another at the 5K mark, giving them the confidence to finish strong. Sophomore Madeline Trevisan was 95th, followed closely by Borchers in 98th, while redshirt senior Haley Meier rounded out the scorers in 145th.

• Michigan kicked off its postseason run by defending its Big Ten team title, toppling Minnesota, 55-86. Morrissey and Sereno once again led the way in third and fourth places, respectively, but it was the rest of the Wolverine lineup that clinched the title for U-M. Minnesota was just as strong through two runners (both teams tied at seven points through their first two scorers), but it was Michigan's final three scorers -- redshirt junior Avery Evenson in 15th, Trevisan (16th) and Borchers (17th) -- who put the Wolverines over the top. Michigan was just as strong in its third consecutive NCAA Great Lakes Regional title, led by second-place Sereno and third-place Morrissey and All-Region honorees Borchers and Trevisan to a 71-87 win over rival Michigan State.

• U-M's Big Ten and NCAA success came after a disappointing regular-season finale at the Pre-National Invitational in mid-October. After entering ranked fourth in the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll, unseasonably hot conditions in Louisville, Kentucky, got the best of the Wolverines as they finished fifth and one point away from sixth. The day was not without silver lining, however, as Morrissey's 12th-place performance proved prophetic of her All-America fortunes to come on this same course in a month's time.

Women's Cross Country

Individual Highlights

• Fewer distance runners were more improved in the 2017 season and arguably no senior made the most of their final season than Morrissey, who racked up third-place Big Ten and NCAA Regional finishes and a 22nd-place effort to lead Michigan at NCAAs. Of the 12 senior All-Americans who competed in at least the past two NCAA Championships, none made a larger year-to-year jump from 2016 to 2017 as did Morrissey, who improved 68 positions from 90th as Michigan's sixth runner in 2016 to 22nd as U-M's top scorer this fall.

• While Sereno had her ups and downs throughout the regular season, she, too, made the most of her senior campaign. In finishing top-30 at NCAAs for second consecutive year (28th this year, 30th in 2016), she became just the fifth woman in school history to take top-30 in back-to-back seasons and the eighth to earn multiple All-America honors. Her nationals performance went along with a runner-up regional finish and a fourth-place effort at Big Tens, as well as two early season wins.

• Borchers built off a strong steeplechase campaign in the spring -- 17th place at NCAAs -- to have a breakthrough fall on the trails. She improved 68 spots from last year's NCAA Championships -- just like Morrissey -- and improved from seventh in Michigan's lineup to fourth as a scorer.

• Trevisan continued to impress in her sophomore season, taking 95th at NCAAs as Michigan's third runner. After a more gradual start to her season, Meier came on late to score for Michigan at NCAAs in 145th place. An All-American a year ago, Evenson was also key in the Big Ten championships with her 15th-place effort.

Honors and Awards

Jamie
Morrissey

Gina
Sereno

Madeline
Trevisan

Claire
Borchers

All-American
Jamie Morrissey
Gina Sereno

Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (First Team): Jamie Morrissey, Gina Sereno
Sportsmanship Award: Sarah Zieve
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Mike McGuire

NCAA Great Lakes Region
USTFCCCA All-Region: Gina Sereno, Jamie Morrissey, Claire Borchers, Madeline Trevisan

Big Ten Athlete of the Week
Gina Sereno (Sept. 13)

Academic All-Big Ten (20)
Sydney Badger, Sr., movement science
Rachel Barrett, Sr., movement science
Claire Borchers, Sr., international studies and Spanish
Meg Darmofal, Jr., movement science
Micaela Degenero, So., undeclared
Kathryn House, So., kinesiology undetermined
Kayla Keane, Jr., movement science
Ellie Leonard, Sr., biochemistry
Sophie Linn, Sr., master's information
Mary Kate McNamara, Jr., economics
Hannah Meier, Sr., health and fitness
Jena Metwalli, So., undeclared
Courtney Munley, Sr., master's accounting
Kate Owens, Jr., movement science
Faith Reynolds, Jr., public health
Gina Sereno, Sr., master's management
Taleen Shahrigian, Sr., movement science
Madeline Trevisan, So., mechanical engineering
Lauren Van Vlierbergen, Jr., business administration
Sarah Zieve, Sr., master's management