Men's Cross Country Schedule Announced for 2018
7/2/2018 1:10:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
• 2018 U-M Men's Cross Country Schedule
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's cross country team announced on Monday (July 2) its eight-race schedule for the 2018 campaign to defend its Big Ten team title and return to the national top 10.
Prior to the Big Ten Championships (Oct. 28), the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Nov. 9) and the NCAA Championships (Nov. 17), the Wolverines will compete in several of the nation's top regular-season meets in preparation for a Big Ten title defense and a run at improving on its 10th-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships.
The season will begin with the lone home event of the year, the annual Michigan Open (Aug. 31) at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter. Admission to the meet is free, though all vehicles are subject to a $7 daily entry fee upon entry to the park.
Two weeks later, the squad will head to Cary, North Carolina, for the Adidas XC Challenge (Sept. 14) at the WakeMed Soccer Park. The meet will mark their first big regular-season test of the year with several national-tier teams from around the country joining them in the race.
After a bye weekend, U-M next travels to Madison, Wisconsin, for the first of two consecutive meets held at the site of the NCAA Championships, Wisconsin's Zimmer Championship Course.
Michigan will compete at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Sept. 28, followed two weeks later by what will be the most hotly contested regular-season meet of the year at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 13. More than two-thirds of the nation's ranked teams are expected at the starting line of the Zimmer Championship Course for the latter meet.
Select members of the team will get a final tune-up for the postseason or a final race of the year the following weekend with a return to the Hudson Mills Metropark for the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic (Oct. 19).
The postseason will begin one week later as the Wolverines will seek to defend their 2017 title at the Big Ten Championships (Oct. 28) hosted by Nebraska. This will mark the first time the conference meet has been held in Lincoln since Nebraska joined the conference ahead of the 2011 season.
NCAA postseason competition begins two weekends afterwards with the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Nov. 9) in Terre Haute, Indiana. U-M has claimed two of the past five regional team titles with wins in 2013 and 2015.
The top two teams in the Great Lakes Regional standings will automatically advance to the NCAA Cross Country Championships (Nov. 17) in Madison. Last year's squad was the regional runner-up en route to a 10th-place national finish at the NCAA Championships.
