Michigan
Michigan Open
Michigan Open Set to Kick Off 2021 Campaign for Wolverine Women
9/1/2021 11:01:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 3 -- host Michigan Open (Hudson Mills Metropark), 5 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team will return to Hudson Mills Metropark on Friday (Sept. 3) for the Michigan Open in what will be the squad's first home competition in 735 days due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.
After putting in more than a week of hard work at the U-M Biological Station in Pellston, Mich., for its annual preseason camp, the national No. 11-ranked Wolverines are ready to begin their 2021 campaign with a rust-busting intrasquad competition. The five-kilometer (3.11-mile) race over the grounds of the Metropark will begin at 5 p.m., and will be preceded by a men's race at 4:30 p.m.
This likely will be the lone opportunity to see Michigan's top runners in action in competition near Ann Arbor this fall, though select runners will return to the Metropark in October for a tune-up meet hosted by Eastern Michigan.
The competition is open to the public. Daily admission to the Metropark, normally $10 per vehicle, has been waived thanks to a partnership between the Huron-Clinton Metroparks and DTE Energy.
Masks are not required outdoors at the venue, but the Huron-Clinton Metroparks generally recommend maintaining a social distance of six feet.
The Course
Name: Hudson Mills Metropark North Course
Distance: Five Kilometers (3.11 miles)
Maximum Elevation: 874 feet
Minimum Elevation: 837 feet
Things to Know
• Led by longtime women's head cross country coach Mike McGuire, the U-M women will enter ranked No. 2 in the deep preseason Great Lakes Regional rankings and No. 11 in the National Coaches' Poll announced Monday (Aug. 30) and Tuesday (Aug. 31), respectively, by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
• The Wolverines have claimed seven of the last nine regional titles and are in the midst of the third-longest active NCAA Championships qualifying streak in the nation at 19 years running.
• This marks the 19th consecutive year Michigan has earned a top-30 national rank to start the season. Of those 19 years, Michigan has gone on to outperform their preseason rank at the NCAA Championships in 10 of those seasons.
• Friday likely will be the only chance to see many of Michigan's top runners in action in the state of Michigan this year, as the top squad likely will opt out of the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic on Oct. 22 in favor of preparing for the Big Ten Championships the following weekend in State College, Pa.
• Ericka VanderLende returns for her junior year to once again lead the Wolverines, after finishing as an All-American in 2019 and 64th in last year's edition of the meet just days after earning second-team All-America honors over 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at 5,000 meters.
• VanderLende is one of three former Big Ten Cross Country Freshman of the Year winners on the roster, joining 2018 honoree Anne Forsyth and 2020 honoree Samantha Tran. Forsyth will look to reclaim the form she showed in a 46th-place NCAA Championships finish, while Tran will build on her 90th-place finish at last year's NCAA meet and her blistering fourth-place run in the Big Ten Outdoor 1,500-meter final.
• The Wolverines will be looking for big things from its steeplechasing duo of Alice Hill and Kayla Windemuller. After finishing 189th and 152nd, respectively, at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships, both women went on to break 10 minutes in the steeplechase in the spring, with Hill qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the event.
• In what will be her first proper fall cross country season at Michigan, former high school standout Katelynne Hart will be poised to become a significant contributor for the Wolverines. The indoor distance medley relay All-American in 2021 went on to finish 18th in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds during the outdoor track season.
• Michigan will welcome back Jessi Larson to the trails in 2021 after missing the 2019 and 2020 seasons to injury. Larson was 99th for the Wolverines at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships. This past spring, she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships over 10,000 meters.
• The Wolverines will look for breakthrough seasons from mid-distance runners Amber Gall, Lauren Fulcher, Lucy Petee and Aurora Rynda, as well as NCAA East Prelims qualifier Samantha Saenz.
Players Mentioned
