Michigan
Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
Michigan Outperforms Rank in Stacked Wisconsin Meet
10/18/2019 3:33:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Site: Madison, Wis. (Thomas Zimmer Championship Course)
Event: Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
Distance: Eight Kilometers (4.97 miles)
U-M Team Finish: 11th place of 33 teams (329 points)
Top U-M Individual: Devin Meyrer, 36th (24:07.5)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 25 -- at Eastern Michigan Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.)
• Complete Results | Photo Gallery
MADISON, Wis. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will enter the postseason with plenty of potential after outperforming its pre-meet rank in a stacked field at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday (Oct. 18).
The Wolverines finished 11th in the team standings with 329 points in the Championship Race as Devin Meyrer led the way individually with a 36th-place finish, covering the eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) Thomas Zimmer Championship Course circuit in 24:07.5.
Michigan's team finish was an improvement of one spot over its pre-race rank within the field, including upsets of higher-ranked teams in No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 16 Virginia and No. 12 Syracuse.
The performance sets the Wolverines up well to make a run at qualifying for the NCAA Championships (Nov. 23) on an at-large basis if they do not ultimately finish top-two at regionals for an automatic berth in a month's time.
Rounding out Michigan's scoring lineup -- comprised of its top five runners -- were 54th-place Nick Foster (24:19.8), 71st-place Joost Plaetinck (24:26.2), 84th-place Jordy Hewitt (24:29.3) and 89th-place Isaac Harding (24:32.0).
The top spot in the team standings went to No. 1 Northern Arizona with 59 points.
For the second race in a row, and on-brand with the team's recent history, the Wolverines excelled at keeping a tight-knit pack. All of Michigan's top five finished within 24.5 seconds of one another -- the fourth-best spread of any team in the top 15 -- as they crossed the line.
Michigan's sixth and seventh runners -- 113th-place Jack Aho and 137th-place Ben Hill -- followed suit through the chute within another 20 seconds. The 44.4-second difference between Meyrer and Hill was the second-best 1-7 spread of any team in the field, trailing only Northern Arizona's 42.8.
Meyrer ran consistently near the front of the race, making a big move from 61st to 36th in the third quarter of the race between four kilometers and six kilometers -- the 29th-biggest move in the 230-plus runner field for that stretch. He held strong in that position for the remainder of the race as he led Michigan for the second race in a row.
When it came to the biggest move of the day for the Wolverines, no one topped the true freshman Foster. Running in just his second 8K cross country race, Foster climbed an astonishing 46 spots over the final two kilometers for the biggest move in the entire field in the closing stages of the race. That came after a 69-spot jump from 2K to 4K and a 17-spot improvement from 4K to 6K
Foster's surge was powered by a 6:04.3 split over the final two kilometers that was the fastest on the entire Michigan squad (Meyrer covered that same stretch in 6:07.6) and was surpassed by only 18 other runners.
If not for Foster, Plaetinck's moves through the field would have been the biggest on the team. After earning a spot in the top seven following a strong run in the open race at Notre Dame two weeks ago, the junior jumped up 67 spots between 2K and 4K, picked off 44 more runners over the next 2,000 meters, and held steady at 71st for the remainder of the contest.
Hewitt was strong in his 2019 cross country debut, as the 2018 second-team All-Big Ten honoree held steady between 79th and 90th throughout the proceedings, including a six-spot rally in the final split.
The Wolverines performed well despite off days from 2018 NCAA Championships scorers Harding, Aho and Hill. A return to form for all three men will provide a significant boost for the Wolverines heading into the postseason.
The Wolverines showed even more depth in the unseeded "B" race earlier in the day, as both Jacob Lee and Jacob Branch finished top-six overall.
Lee placed fourth in 24:34.2 with Branch just behind in sixth at 24:36.4. After two runners broke away from the main pack in the first quarter of the race, both Lee and Branch emerged as part of a four-man chase group that eventually reeled in one of those leaders before race's end.
Gabe Mudel and Christian Hubaker also turned in strong efforts in 26th (25:05.1) and 31st (25:11.0), respectively.
Michigan Results
Championship Race
36. Devin Meyrer -- 24:07.5
54. Nick Foster -- 24:19.8
71. Joost Plaetinck -- 24:26.2
84. Jordy Hewitt -- 24:29.3
89. Isaac Harding -- 24:32.0
113. Jack Aho -- 24:41.7
137. Ben Hill -- 24:51.9
"B" Race
4. Jacob Lee -- 24:34.2
6. Jacob Branch -- 24:36.4
26. Gabe Mudel -- 25:05.1
31. Christian Hubaker -- 25:11.0
70. Colton Yesney -- 25:48.3
84. Dominic Dimambro -- 26:09.8
89. James Gedris -- 26:36.2
Team Standings
Championship Race
1. No. 1 Northern Arizona -- 59 points
2. No. 5 Stanford -- 133
3. No. 28 Tulsa -- 175
4. No. 6 Iowa State -- 180
5. No. 20 UCLA -- 219
6. No. 11 Purdue -- 255
7. No. 15 Indiana -- 280
8. No. 19 Wisconsin -- 292
9. No. 8 Portland -- 295
10. No. 7 Oregon -- 323
11. No. 18 MICHIGAN -- 329
12. No. 26 Boise State -- 369
13. Southern Utah (RV) -- 391
14. No. 22 Utah State -- 396
15. No. 13 Notre Dame -- 434
16. Gonzaga -- 435
17. No. 23 Princeton -- 478
18. No. 16 Virginia -- 492
19. Furman (RV) -- 510
20. Georgetown (RV) -- 539
21. Air Force (RV) -- 544
22. No. 25 Eastern Kentucky -- 579
23. No. 30 Wyoming -- 584
24. No. 12 Syracuse -- 591
25. Michigan State -- 595
26. Colorado State (RV) -- 603
27. New Mexico -- 627
28. Harvard (RV) -- 661
29. Wake Forest -- 715
30. Washington State -- 717
31. Bradley -- 719
32. Columbia -- 720
33. Cal Poly -- 778
DNF. No. 10 N.C. State
Players Mentioned
