Michigan
Indiana Sam Bell Invitational
No. 4 Michigan Set for Battle with No. 14 Indiana at Sam Bell Invite
9/28/2017 2:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
» Back in action after two idle weekends, the No. 4 Wolverines will get a preview of the Big Ten Championships course against No. 14 Indiana.
» Much of the Wolverines' roster will compete, including the 1-2 duo of Gina Sereno and Jamie Morrissey.
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THIS WEEK
Saturday, Sept. 30 -- Indiana Sam Bell Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.), 10 a.m.
With two solid weekends of training under its belt since a decisive team victory at Indiana State, the national No. 4-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team will return to the Hoosier State for a preview of the Big Ten Championships course Saturday morning (Sept. 30) at the Indiana Sam Bell Invitational.
Undefeated Big Ten Athlete of the Week Gina Sereno leads the Wolverines to Bloomington as they face Big Ten rival No. 14 Indiana on the Hoosiers' home turf at the IU Championship Cross Country Course. Also in the field are Bradley, Columbia, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska, Milwaukee and Canadian universities Guelph and Windsor.
The Hoosiers are coming off a close loss last week to No. 8 Providence and tiebreak win over No. 23 Georgetown at the Boston College Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, 71-78-78, moving up four spots to an all-time program-best national rank as a result.
When the starter's pistol fires at 10 a.m., Michigan will embark on its first six-kilometer (3.73-mile) race of the season. After two five-kilometer (3.11-mile) events at the Michigan Open and Indiana State John McNichols Invitational, the Wolverines will take their first crack at the same course length they will see for the Big Ten, Great Lakes Regional and NCAA championships beginning late next month.
"We'd like to pack up. That's always our central theme, packing up behind whoever gets our scoring started," head coach Mike McGuire said. "Let's say we're splitting 35 seconds from the first runner through the fifth over five kilometers; if we do that over six kilometers then we've packed up better. We've kept that gap even in the longer race.
"We want to do well on Saturday, but we want it to also be a springboard into what we ultimately want to do at the end of October."
When the Wolverines return to Bloomington in a month's time -- Sunday, Oct. 29 -- they will be taking aim at defending their Big Ten team title and going for their first repeat since winning five conference crowns in a row from 2002-06.
But in the meantime, this Saturday's competition is another opportunity to make progress toward that goal and the larger goals of qualifying to a 16th consecutive NCAA Championship meet and following up on last year's national runner-up finish.
Led by Sereno and breakthrough performer Jamie Morrissey, who have gone 1-2 in both of their first two races, the Wolverines will be bringing a large contingent to Bloomington to preview the championship course.
Sereno, the victor at both the Michigan Open and Indiana State, has looked every bit as strong on the trails this fall as she did on the track this past spring, when she won three Big Ten titles and earned three All-America honors. The same goes for Morrissey, who this spring lowered her career best at 1,500 meters by nearly 16 seconds.
For Sereno, this Saturday is potentially also a rematch with the Hoosiers' All-American Katherine Receveur, who is coming off a runner-up finish in Boston last weekend. The two dueled to the line in a pair of unforgettable Big Ten finals on the track in 2017, with Sereno coming away with the indoor 3,000-meter and outdoor 5,000-meter titles by .04 and .05, respectively. Receveur and Sereno have both been named Big Ten Athletes of the Week so far in 2017.
Sophomore Madeline Trevisan, junior Claire Borchers and redshirt senior Sophie Linn -- who have been third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Michigan lineup in both races this year -- will all toe the line alongside Sereno and Morrissey, as will 2016 All-American redshirt junior Avery Evenson, junior transfer Audrey Belf and redshirt senior Sarah Zieve. The latter three have been top-seven in Michigan's lineup at least once in 2017.
Those eight will be among the 23 Wolverines competing in Bloomington on Saturday with the dual objectives of competing for the win on the day and familiarizing themselves with the course for the coming postseason.
"Familiarity with a course breeds engagement with that course within the race and an appreciation of its nuances," McGuire said. "It's the type of course like our home course or like at Minnesota where you don't appreciate how tough it is until you navigate it the first time through."
A LOOK AHEAD
Saturday, Oct. 14 -- at Pre-National Invitational (Louisville, Ky.)
Friday, Oct. 20 -- at Eastern Michigan Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.)
Tweet of the Week
Women holding steady at #??4?? in the new @USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll with a 1st-place vote!
— Michigan T&F / XC (@UMichTrack) September 26, 2017
Men JUST outside the top-30 pic.twitter.com/FzXFjH41Bv
Players Mentioned
