Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverine Weekly: Big Ten Championships News and Notes
10/25/2018 5:26:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
» A defense of its 2017 team title is on the line for the No. 27 University of Michigan men's cross country team as it competes at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday at 11:45 a.m. CDT
» Led by a young corps including sophomores Jack Aho, Isaac Harding and Jacob Lee, the Wolverines will be in for a battle against the likes of favored No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 18 Purdue, No. 22 Indiana and vote-receiving Michigan State.
THIS WEEK
Sunday, Oct. 28 -- at Big Ten Championships (Lincoln, Neb.), 11:45 a.m. CDT
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Postseason competition has arrived for the young No. 27 University of Michigan men's cross country team, with a defense of its conference team title on the line this Sunday (Oct. 28) at the Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Youth is looking to be served as the sophomore trio of Jack Aho, Jacob Lee and Isaac Harding attempt to deliver the Wolverines to their first back-to-back Big Ten team titles since 1997-98 as they traverse they eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) course at the Mahoney Golf Course starting at 11:45 a.m. CDT.
After an up-and-down regular season -- a breakthrough showing at the Nuttycombe Invitational followed by a below-expectation effort at Pre-Nationals -- the Wolverines will look to get their postseason run off to the right start against a strong field of opposition. At No. 27 nationally, the Wolverines enter as the fourth-best of five Big Ten teams that appear in the latest edition of the national poll, behind No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 18 Purdue, No. 22 Indiana and vote-receiving Michigan State.
In aiming to reclaim its conference title and knock off as many higher-ranked opponents as possible, the Wolverines will lean into what has been their greatest asset this year -- tremendous depth -- while trying to stay engaged with the action at the front of the race.
Michigan was one of just two teams -- two-time defending national champion No. 1 Northern Arizona being the other -- in the Pre-National Invitational "Cardinal Race" to put seven runners in the top-100. The time spread between Michigan's top runner Aho and No. 7 runner Jacob Branch was just 16 seconds, smaller than every other team's time spread between its No. 1 through No. 5 runners.
However, the Wolverines were without a presence at the front of the race with Aho coming across the line in 53rd to lead the way for Michigan.
More of a presence up front at this weekend's conference race could push Michigan closer to the top of the standings. Last year's team was similarly deep with seven top-25 finishers at Big Tens, led by sixth-place Ben Flanagan and both Aaron Baumgarten and Connor Mora in the top 15.
Michigan has seen a handful of these opponents throughout the regular season. At the Nuttycombe Invitational, Michigan was 11th overall behind runner-up Wisconsin and ninth-place Purdue, but ahead of 14th-place Indiana and 19th-place Michigan State (as well as 28th-place Penn State and 29th-place Illinois).
The Wolverines were the top Big Ten team in their Pre-Nationals "Cardinal Race" in 11th, but 13th-place Wisconsin ran without several of its top scorers. Iowa was 16th in that race.
Unranked Minnesota, which had previously received votes in the national poll, is the highest-ranked team to have seen this Mahoney Golf Course venue this season in a win at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational in September. Also present from the conference were Iowa and host Nebraska.
This will be Michigan's first competition at the Mahoney Golf Course.
The Lineup
Teams are allowed to field a lineup of nine runners. The first five runners across the line will constitute the scorers, the next two are score displacers and the final two will not figure into the team scoring, but provide an extra safety net should any of the seven ahead of them have an off day.
In addition to the aforementioned Aho, Harding, Lee and Branch, the Michigan lineup could include the likes of, alphabetically order: Anthony Berry, Dominic Dimambro, Kevin Hall, Jordy Hewitt, Ben Hill, Christian Hubaker, Cole Johnson, Will Landowne, Jacob Lee, Gabe Mudel, Lewis Tate, John Tatter, Nick Trevisan and Ryan Wilkie.
• Aho has been either first or second across the line for Michigan in each of his two outings in-uniform this season. Though comparing times in cross country is an exercise to be taken with a grain of salt due to the many variables that affect races, both of Aho's performances at Wisconsin this year are superior to his lone appearance on that course in 2017 before he went on to take 23rd at Big Tens, 25th at regionals and 122nd at nationals.
• Michigan's top finisher at Nuttycombe, Lee, will be making his cross country postseason debut on Sunday. After watching last year's run as a postseason roster alternate, Lee has become one of the Wolverines' top runners.
• Hewitt is eyeing a return to his form from the 2016 season when he was a 23rd-place All-Region performer for the Wolverines. His 74th-place showing at Pre-Nationals was arguably his best cross country performance since that regional race two seasons ago, though his 100th-place effort at Nuttycombe two weeks prior was similarly impressive.
• Just as Aho was a true freshman who assumed a role in the five-man scoring lineup a year ago, Tatter could do the same this year. Now lining up for his fourth career 8K race, Tatter moved up from sixth in the lineup at Nuttycombe to being the fifth scorer at Pre-Nationals.
The Team, The Team, The Team
• Led by former Great Lakes Region and two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men dropped seven spots from No. 20 to No. 27 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Coaches' Poll (Oct. 16), and fell two spots to No. 3 in the latest Great Lakes Regional (Oct. 15).
• The next edition of the rankings and polls will be announced Monday, Oct. 29 and Tuesday Oct. 30, respectively.
• Michigan was ranked No. 4 in last year's preseason regional rankings before going on to finish second at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional to secure one of the region's two automatic berths to the NCAA Championships. The Wolverines trail Big Ten rivals Wisconsin (1), Purdue (3) and Indiana (4) in the rankings, as well as Notre Dame (2).
• Among Big Ten teams nationally, Michigan is ranked fourth behind No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 18 Purdue and No. 22 Indiana. Michigan State is also receiving votes in the poll.
The Course
Name: Mahoney Golf Course
Distance: Eight Kilometers (4.97 miles)
Course Map
A Look Ahead
Friday, Nov. 9 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.)
Saturday, Nov. 17 -- at NCAA Championships (Madison, Wis.)
Players Mentioned
