Michigan
Greeno/Dirksen Invitational
Wolverine Weekly: Pre-Greeno/Dirksen Invitational News and Notes
9/12/2018 3:29:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
» UPDATE: To avoid hot and humid weather that will develop throughout the late morning, the race has been moved an hour earlier to 9 a.m. CT.
» The No. 12-ranked Wolverines will get their first test against outside competition, including three conference foes, and will take their first look at the 2018 Big Ten Championships course.
» Top Michigan Open performers Camille Davre, Alice Hill, Claire Borchers and Anna West will be joined in the lineup for the first time in 2018 by sixth-year seniors Avery Evenson, Haley Meier and Hannah Meier.
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Sept. 15 -- at Nebraska Greeno/Dirksen (Lincoln, Neb.), 9 a.m. CDT
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Weekend Overview
After being recognized for its 2017 Big Ten title on the field at Michigan Stadium during last weekend's football game, the No. 12 University of Michigan women's cross country team is turning its attention towards preparing for its run at the 2018 title with Saturday's (Sept. 15) Greeno/Dirksen Invitational.
The two-time reigning Big Ten champion Wolverines will get their first look at the Mahoney Park Golf Course venue that will be the backdrop of their bid for a third straight Big Ten title in late October.
Though many of Michigan's biggest conference rivals will be competing elsewhere across the country, the Wolverines -- ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Great Lakes Region -- will square off against the likes of Big Ten foes Nebraska, Iowa and Rutgers.
The field will also include Division I opponents South Dakota, Kansas State, Omaha and Creighton, as well as a number of teams from NCAA Divisions II and III, the NAIA and the NJCAA.
South Dakota is perhaps the most formidable of the Wolverines' opponents, coming into the weekend ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Midwest Region. Iowa is No. 10 in the same region.
Also in the field is NCAA Division II No. 6 Augustana University (South Dakota).
This will be the Wolverines' first scored competition of the season. For a breakdown of how team scoring works, click here.
With the primary objective of the meet to familiarize themselves with the championships course and to continue a steady build-up during the regular season, the Wolverines will run their most complete lineup of the year to date.
In addition to Michigan Open winner Camille Davre and top-five finishers Alice Hill, Claire Borchers and Anna West, the Wolverines will also debut sixth-year seniors Avery Evenson, Haley Meier and Hannah Meier for the first time in 2018.
Evenson was a cross country All-American in 2016 and Hannah Meier was a Big Ten champion and second team All-American in the mile in 2018. Both Meiers, along with Borchers, were Big Ten champions in the distance medley relay.
The lineup could also include Audrey Belf, Rachel Coleman, Meg Darmofal, Kathryn House, Jessi Larson, Jena Metwalli and Julia Vanitvelt.
This weekend will mark Michigan's first competition within the NCAA Championships at-large qualifying period that began with last weekend's slate of meets, and its first meet of the year run at the six-kilometer (3.73-mile) distance contested during the Big Ten and NCAA postseason.
The Wolverines will also get their first shot at picking up some potentially valuable head-to-head victories. Should Michigan not finish top-two at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional to secure an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, they would need to rely on those head-to-head wins to advance to nationals as one of 13 at-large selections around the country. Michigan has only finished third or worse at regionals four times since the turn of the new millenium),
Things to Know
• Led by reigning Great Lakes Region and Big Ten Coach of the Year Mike McGuire, Michigan is ranked No. 12 in the Week 1 edition of the National Coaches' Poll and No. 2 in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Rankings announced Tuesday (Sept. 11) and Monday (Sept. 10), respectively, by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
• Only No. 7 Wisconsin is ranked higher in the National Coaches' Poll among Big Ten teams, with Penn State and Michigan State behind the Wolverines at No. 13 and No. 15. Also representing the conference in the national poll are No. 20 Indiana, No. 24 Minnesota and vote-receiving Ohio State.
• Michigan is ranked higher nationally in a pair of other media rankings. Dyestat/Runnerspace has tabbed the Wolverines as the No. 7 team in the land, with Flotrack pegging Michigan at No. 8.
• The Wolverines have claimed five of the last six regional titles and are in the midst of the third-longest active NCAA Championships qualifying streak in the nation at 15 years running. Never before has a women's team in the Great Lakes Region claimed four consecutive regional titles, but the Wolverines -- winners of three straight -- will look to change that in 2018. The top two teams in the region will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships.
• This marks the 16th year in a row Michigan has earned a top-30 national rank to start the season. Of those 16 years, Michigan has gone on to outperform their preseason rank at the NCAA Championships in nine of those seasons.
• The next edition of the rankings will be announced Monday (Sept. 17) and Tuesday (Sept. 18), respectively.
• Davre was strong in this meet a year ago with a fourth-place overall, but injury befell her before she was able to become a potential contributor to the 2017 lineup that ultimately placed ninth nationally. Injury also kept her away from the track for most of the winter and spring of 2018. Flotrack, however, saw her potential and ranked her No. 15 on the list of redshirt freshmen to watch in 2018, regardless of gender.
• Much has been said about Hill's summer of the steeplechase that ended with her finishing seventh at the IAAF World U20 Championships. The Michigan Open was her first opportunity to translate those gains from the track to the grass, and she did not disappoint. Coming through in second in 17:40.0 while running her first-ever varsity cross country race, she drastically improved on her 18th-place, 18:36.8 result from the 2017 Michigan Open.
• Consistency was a hallmark of Borchers' 2018 All-American steeplechase campaign that saw her finish fourth at the NCAA Championships, and consistency is exactly what she demonstrated at the Michigan Open. Her 17:41.0 effort was nearly identical to the 17:40.7 fifth-place finish she logged a year ago. If that is a sign of things to come, Borchers was 17th at Big Tens, 15th at regionals and 98th at NCAAs.
• All-American Baylor transfer Anna West made her Michigan debut, finishing fifth in 17:54.7. Prior to transferring to Michigan, West was 40th at last season's NCAA Championships and scored at every Big 12 indoor or outdoor championships for her first two years in Waco, Texas.
• Perhaps the biggest improvement for anyone beyond Alice Hill came courtesy of Kathryn House, who took eighth in 18:11.7. At this meet a year ago, House was 23rd in 18:51.1. Signs of this improvement were visible during the track season, when House was ninth in the Big Ten Outdoor 5,000-meter final in 17:01.43.
• Two first-year Wolverines impressed in unattached Michigan Open performances in fourth-place Olivia Theis and sixth-place Jessi Larson. Theis, a decorated Michigan high schooler who was third at the Foot Locker Nationals meet, finished side-by-side with Borchers in 17:41.2, while Larson crossed the line in 18:03.6.
• Notably absent from the Michigan lineup were sixth-year seniors Evenson and the Meier twins. All three are expected to make their 2018 debuts at either Nebraska (Sept. 15) or Louisville (Sept. 29) as they will embark on their final season of collegiate cross country eligibility. Only Hannah Meier will have sixth years remaining for indoor and outdoor track in a ruling that was passed down by the NCAA late last week.
The Course
Name: Mahoney Golf Course
Distance: Six Kilometers (3.73 miles)
A Look Ahead
Saturday, Sept. 29 -- at Greater Louisville Classic (Louisville, Ky.)
Saturday, Oct. 13 -- at Pre-National Invitational (Madison, Wis.)
Players Mentioned
