Michigan
adidas XC Challenge
Road Test at North Carolina State Awaits Wolverines
9/18/2019 1:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
» The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will send a 11-man squad to Cary, North Carolina, for its first road competition of the season.
» With veterans Jacob Lee and Jacob Branch leading an up-and-coming group of competitors, the Wolverines will race against a squad from No. 12 NC State.
THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 20 -- at adidas XC Challenge (WakeMed Park), 6 p.m.
Live Results
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The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team is on the road for the first time this season as it will compete at the adidas XC Challenge on Friday evening (Sept. 20) in Cary, North Carolina.
An 11-man contingent will represent the Wolverines in the six-kilometer (3.73-mile) race through WakeMed Park, comprised largely of runners looking to break into Michigan's eventual seven-man or nine-man rosters for the postseason.
Returning NCAA Championships runners Jacob Lee and Jacob Branch headline the group, which also features Michigan Open top-10 finishers Will Landowne, Gabe Mudel, Cole Johnson and Nick Trevisan.
Also running for the Wolverines against a field of mostly Southeast Region teams -- including a squad from No. 12 NC State -- will be Colton Yesney, Dominic Dimambro, Christian Hubaker, Andrew Lorant and Joost Plaetinck.
Also in the field are Charleston Southern, Citadel, Davidson, Gardner-Webb, North Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T, UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Wilmington.
Much of the Wolverines' full lineup -- including All-American Jack Aho and Michigan Open winner Isaac Harding -- will return to action over the next few weeks at either next weekend's Big Ten Preview or the following weekend's Joe Piane Notre Dame invitational.
Though this is the first meet for the Wolverines inside the at-large NCAA Championships qualifying window that began last weekend, it will not count toward Michigan's qualifying resume. NCAA rules dictate that only races longer than 7.5 kilometers (4.66 miles) -- or 75 percent of the NCAA postseason race distance -- are eligible for inclusion.
Later in the season, the men will transition to running eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) distances through the Big Ten Championships, then will switch to 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) competitions for the NCAA postseason.
Friday marks a return to the meet for Michigan after Hurricane Florence prompted the cancelation of the 2018 event and a last-minute change of venue to the Michigan State Spartan Invitational. Weather conditions this year are expected to be in the mid-70s and sunny at race time.
Things to Know
• Led by former Great Lakes Region and two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men remained ranked No. 3 in the first regular-season Great Lakes Regional rankings and stepped up a spot to No. 17 in the National Coaches' Poll announced Monday (Sept. 16) and Tuesday (Sept. 17), respectively, by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
• Michigan was ranked No. 3 in last year's preseason regional rankings, which is precisely where it finished at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The finish was ultimately strong enough to advance the Wolverines to the NCAA Championships.
• At No. 17 nationally, the Wolverines enter the season ranked top-30 in the country for the 19th time in the past 21 years. Among Big Ten teams, Michigan is ranked third-best behind No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 15 Indiana.
• In addition to its USTFCCCA national rank, Michigan also checked in at No. 15 in The Stride Report's rankings and at No. 21 per Flotrack.
• Landowne is the top finisher from the Michigan Open who will compete at NC State, coming off his third-place effort in his collegiate cross country debut. His 15:07.7 was faster than Aaron Baumgarten's previous meet record for 5K Michigan Open races at Hudson Mills Metropark. He is looking to become a contributor to the cross country team in 2019 the same way he was on the indoor track circuit this past winter, when he scored for the Wolverines in the Big Ten Indoor Championships 3,000-meter final.
• After running unattached to a fourth-place Michigan Open finish in 15:07.8, Gabe Mudel will make his official 2019 in-uniform debut on Friday. Though he did not compete for the Wolverines on their NCAA postseason teams, he was the USATF U20 runner-up for cross country and represented Team USA at the 2019 IAAF U20 World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.
• Also running in his collegiate cross country debut, Johnson ran 15:09.3 to equal Baumgarten's previous record at the Michigan Open. A mid-distance runner by trade, Johnson will step up in distance to run the longest race of his career on Friday.
• Trevisan and Yesney also were stellar in their collegiate debuts in late August, running 15:13.7 and 15:13.8 for 10th and 11th, respectively. Both will look to build on those performances in Cary, North Carolina.
• Lee and Branch are the veterans of the group, having competed on Michigan's 19th-place NCAA Championships team a year ago. Lee was the Wolverines' No. 4 scorer on the day with a 172nd-place finish, while Branch was the No. 7 runner in 213th.
The Course
Name: WakeMed Park
Distance: Six Kilometers (3.73 miles)
Maximum Elevation: 497 feet
Minimum Elevation: 417 feet
A Look Ahead
• Saturday, Sept. 28 -- at Big Ten Preview (Columbus, Ohio)
• Friday, Oct. 4 -- at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (South Bend, Ind.)
Players Mentioned
