Michigan Earns At-Large Berth to NCAA Championships
11/16/2019 5:42:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team has been selected for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the NCAA announced Saturday evening (Nov. 16) during its selection show.
Emerging from Friday's tightly-contested NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday (Nov. 15) with a third-place finish, 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. 23) in Terre Haute, Indiana.
This will mark the third consecutive season in which Michigan has competed at the national championships and the eighth time in the last nine seasons. The U-M men will join the Wolverine women in Indiana after the latter finished second Great Lakes Regional.
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 performed up to expectations at both of its regular-season dates at Notre Dame and Wisconsin, setting itself up for a strong postseason run.
At the Big Ten Championships, the Wolverines finished third overall, upsetting pre-race favorite and eventual NCAA Great Lakes champion Purdue.
At Friday's regional, Michigan scored finished ahead of Big Ten champion Wisconsin and runner-up Indiana in a race that saw teams second through fourth separated by just two points. Runner-up Notre Dame finished with 85 points, Michigan scored 86 and Indiana posted 87.
Next Saturday's NCAA Championships for the men will be run at 12:15 p.m. at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course live on FloTrack. The men's race will be preceded by the women's race at 11:15 a.m.
