Toeing the Line #2: at Commodore Classic

Sept. 16, 2015

Michigan Women's Cross Country

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• Athlete Spotlight: Gina Sereno

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Sept. 19 -- at Commodore Classic (Knoxville, Tenn.), 10 a.m.

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In its first true challenge of the season, the 12th-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team heads south to Vanderbilt University to run the 5,000-meter Commodore Classic this Saturday (Sept. 19) at Vaughn's Gap Course in Nashville, Tennessee. The Wolverines have an early-season opportunity to compete in one of the toughest meets of the young 2015 season and with a number of entries in the race, several athletes will gain valuable experience against some of the best competition in the country this weekend.

U-M will travel 22 athletes to the meet in uniform, and competition includes the following schools: Akron, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Belmont, Chattanooga, Clemson, Davidson, Georgia Tech, Lipscomb, Louisville, Marshall, Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Mississippi, Murray State, Ohio State, Samford, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, University of Alabama Birmingham, No. 22 Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky.

THINGS TO KNOW
• The race at Vanderbilt's Vaughn's Gap Course will also feature another team from the Big Ten (Ohio State), giving U-M its first look at Big Ten competition. Mississippi State is another team on the rise and also received votes in the coaches poll for the second consecutive weekend -- and for the second time in program history.

• U-M opened the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll at No. 12 in the preseason and remained there in the second edition released earlier this week. This marks the fourth season in the last five in which U-M has been ranked in the nation's top 13 to start the season off, a testament to the sustained success of the program under 24th-year head coach Mike McGuire.

• The Maize and Blue will travel 22 athletes to Knoxville, as the race allows for unlimited entries. For this weekend's race, the following athletes will compete for the first time in a Maize and Blue singlet: sophomores/freshmen Sydney Badger, Rachel Barrett and Kali Dent, as well as true freshman Kayla Keane. The race also marks the return of junior/sophomore Jaimie Phelan, making her season debut.

• In the season opener, U-M placed all 12 of its in-uniform athletes in the top 25 at the EMU Celebration and added another five unattached athletes in the top 13.

• This fall, the Maize and Blue returns two of its top three runners in Osika and Finn, but they are not the only experienced returners. Overall, five athletes who scored in the 2014 postseason are running again for the Wolverines this fall.

Top Returning Times at 5,000-meters (from 2014)