Michigan
Michigan Open
Wolverines to Open Season at Home with Michigan Open
8/31/2017 11:41:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
» Friday (Sept. 1) at 10:30 a.m. at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter, Michigan, will be the lone home competition for the University of Michigan men's cross country team, which is receiving votes in the preseason National Coaches' Poll and will be looking to reclaim its Big Ten title from 2015.
» Former Big Ten outdoor 10,000-meter champ and three-time NCAA Cross Country Championships top-100 finisher Ben Flanagan headlines the Michigan crew.
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THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 1 -- host Michigan Open (Hudson Mills Metropark), 10:30 a.m.
The University of Michigan men's cross country team is aiming to recapture the Big Ten team title it won in 2015 and return to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and the first step in that journey will be the Michigan Open Friday (Sept. 1) at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter, Michigan.
This will be Michigan's lone home competition of the 2017 season, though select members of the squad will return to Hudson Mills in October for the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic.
Slated for a 10:30 a.m. gun, the non-scored race against members of the Eastern Michigan squad will be contested on a five-kilometer (3.11-mile) course over the gently rolling hills of Hudson Mills Metropark, located just to the north of downtown Dexter.
Later in the season, the men will transition to running eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) distances through the Big Ten Championships, and then switch to 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) competitions for the NCAA postseason.
Admission to Hudson Mills Metropark is $10, which covers parking for the event. The site opens at 7 a.m. daily. [ More Information ]
THINGS TO KNOW
• Led by former Great Lakes Region and Big Ten Coach of the Year Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men will enter ranked No. 4 in the preseason Great Lakes Regional rankings announced Monday (Aug. 28) by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Michigan received votes in the association's National Coaches' Poll unveiled Tuesday.
• Friday will likely be the only chance to see many of Michigan's top runners in action in the state of Michigan this year, as the top squad will likely opt out of the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic on Oct. 20 in favor of preparing for the Big Ten Championships the following weekend in Bloomington, Indiana.
• Among those in action for Michigan this weekend will be three-time NCAA Championships top-100 finisher Ben Flanagan, who will be running his first cross country race in a Michigan uniform since taking 83rd at the 2015 NCAA Championships as part of Michigan's ninth-place team. In the interim, the senior won the 2016 Big Ten outdoor 10,000-meter title and was a second-team All-American at that distance.
• Also set to run are returning postseason scorers from the 2016 squad in seniors Micah Beller and Billy Bund and sophomore Jordy Hewitt.
• Friday will also serve as the Michigan cross country debuts for many of last year's recruits who redshirted their first years in Ann Arbor. That list includes IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships competitor Isaac Harding, as well as Jacob Branch, Jacob Lee, Andrew Lorant and Joost Plaetinck.
• All of Michigan's first-year collegians will compete unattached, with this race serving as their first taste of collegiate competition at U-M.
A LOOK AHEAD
Friday, Sept. 15 -- at Adidas XC Challenge (Cary, N.C.)
Friday, Sept. 29 -- at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (South Bend, Ind.)
Tweet of the Week
The men's XC team checked in JUST outside the @USTFCCCA preseason National Coaches' Poll (receiving votes).
— Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) August 29, 2017
PREVIEW https://t.co/353sBt2mAm pic.twitter.com/jP4CZDISOq
Players Mentioned
