U-M Receives Invitation to NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships
11/10/2018 5:09:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The No. 27 University of Michigan men's cross country team has been selected for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the NCAA announced Saturday evening (Nov. 10) on its inaugural selection show webcast.
On the strength of a hard-fought third-place finish at Friday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional, the Wolverines were granted one of the 13 at-large berths up for grabs for those teams that did not finish top-two in one of the nine regionals around the country. The NCAA meet is scheduled for next Saturday (Nov. 17) in Madison, Wisconsin.
This will mark the second consecutive season in which Michigan has competed at the national championships and the seventh time in the last eight seasons. The U-M men will join the Wolverine women in Wisconsin after the latter claimed the Great Lakes Regional title.
The process for deciding at-large berths comes down to the accumulation of head-to-head victories up to and including the regional meet over teams that qualified for nationals.
Michigan started its regular season with a 13th-place finish in a strong Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational race but faltered in a slightly weaker Pre-National Invitational "Cardinal" race with an 11th-place effort.
The Big Ten Championships saw the Wolverines finish fourth -- just one point behind third-place Indiana but also just two points clear of fifth-place Michigan State.
At Friday's regional, Michigan not only topped both Indiana and Michigan State but also Big Ten runner-up Purdue. Just 15 points separated the Wolverines (109 points) from fourth-place Purdue (121) and Indiana (124).
Next Saturday's NCAA Championships for the men will be run at 11:45 a.m. CST at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course live on FloTrack Pro. The men's race will be preceded by the women's race at 10:45 a.m. CST.
