Michigan
Indiana State John McNichols Memorial
No. 3 U-M to Return to Terre Haute for John McNichols Invitational
9/7/2017 3:13:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
» The women's cross country team will be returning to Terre Haute, Indiana, for the first time since its one-point national runner-up finish there at last season's NCAA Cross Country Championships.
» After some light competition at last season-opening Friday's Michigan Open, the Wolverines' campaign gets underway in earnest on Saturday with a race against national No. 28 Louisville and regionally-ranked host Indiana State.
» Many of the Wolverines' top competitors will be in action, including last year's top returners Gina Sereno, Avery Evenson and Madeline Trevisan.
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THIS WEEK
Saturday, Sept. 9 -- at Indiana State John McNichols Invitational (LaVern Gibson Championship Course / Terre Haute, Ind.) 9:30 a.m.
Meet Information
With last week's solid home opener in the books, the national No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team will return to Terre Haute, Indiana, and the LaVern Gibson Championship Course -- the site of last year's one-point national runner-up finish to Oregon -- for Indiana State's John McNichols Invitational.
Pegged at No. 3 in the nation in the preseason lists published by both the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and DyeStat, the Wolverines will for the first time this year have the chance to flex their muscles against ranked competition.
USTFCCCA No. 28 Louisville -- last year's Southeast Region runner-up -- and regionally ranked host Indiana State (No. 14 in the Great Lakes, where Michigan is No. 1) will line up alongside the Wolverines for a 9:30 a.m. start on the five-kilometer (3.11-mile) course at LaVern Gibson.
The venue has hosted 12 of the last 15 NCAA Cross Country Championships, and will also serve this year as the site of the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals on Nov. 10.
"We feel that we're going to adjust a couple race strategies relative to last week," head coach Mike McGuire said. "I thought we did a nice job of grouping up last week, but our goal is to group up even better. I think the motivation of having other colored shirts in the race will help us carry out that objective. We've just a week better, you're a lot better your second time out than your first. And I think we were pretty good our first time out."
Though not yet the rematch that future weekends hold in store with the likes of Oregon, Colorado or the rest of this year's stacked field of NCAA team title contenders, this Saturday in Terre Haute will be a valuable opportunity for the women to both reflect and refocus their goals.
"I think Terre Haute holds a special place in all of our hearts," said redshirt junior Avery Evenson, an All-American who finished 18th at NCAAs on this course a year ago and who has been singled out at No. 22 in the Flotrack preseason individual rankings. "We run well at Terre Haute, we're prepared to run at Terre Haute. We go to Radrick Farms, we go to the Arb to train, which are tough like Terre Haute. We're all ready to go.
"It's still a 5K, so it's a little different than last year's nationals course, but I think we're all for sure stoked to get back there and bring back the memories."
Evenson will be joined on the course this Saturday by all of Michigan's top-seven finishers from last Friday's home opener, and much of the team's overall roster. All-American Gina Sereno led the way with the individual victory in that race, followed closely by a superb effort from runner-up Jamie Morrissey.
Returning NCAA competitors Madeline Trevisan, Claire Borchers and Sophie Linn (2015) are also entered.
Sereno has so far shown the momentum she built up during a track season that saw her earn three All-America honors and win three Big Ten titles is still going strong. Her winning time at the Michigan Open this year was 50 seconds faster than her fourth-place performance from a year.
Morrissey and Trevisan made similar jumps, running 42 seconds and 30 seconds faster than a year ago, respectively, with both finishing exactly four spots higher.
THINGS TO KNOW
• Led by reigning Great Lakes Region and Big Ten Coach of the Year McGuire, the Wolverines have claimed five of the last six regional titles, and are in the midst of the third-longest active NCAA Championships qualifying streak in the nation at 15 years running.
• This year's NCAA Championships will be held Nov. 18 in Louisville, Kentucky, for the third time in the past six years.
• Before the Wolverines look too far forward to this year's NCAA meet, they have business to attend to during the regular season, starting with this weekend. By NCAA rules, this is the first weekend in which meets are countable for the purposes of earning head-to-head wins for NCAA Championships at-large qualifying.
• Though Michigan is the preseason Great Lakes Region favorite and is projected to take one of the region's two automatic berths into the NCAA Championships as they have done in 12 of the past 15 years, this weekend also provides a just-in-case opportunity for a head-to-head victory over another probable NCAA Championships qualifier in Louisville, ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region.
• The meet is named in memory of the late Indiana State coach John McNichols, a close colleague of McGuire's who helmed the ISU program for 34 years before his unexpected passing last December. Among his many achievements at the school was overseeing the construction of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course and making the area a national destination for cross country.
"This meet means a lot to me, in the fact that it's honoring a colleague that we lost unexpectedly and whose impact on our sport in the past two decades has been immeasurable," McGuire said. "We've filled the women in on the history of what's gone on in Terre Haute, so we're going to go out with a great effort and be a part of a celebration of someone who really had a tremendous impact on our sport."
A LOOK AHEAD
Saturday, Sept. 30 -- at Indiana Sam Bell Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.)
Saturday, Oct. 14 -- at Pre-National Invitational (Louisville, Ky.)
Tweet of the Week
Both the Michigan women and men appear in the @DyeStat #NCAAXC preseason national rankings!
— Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) September 6, 2017
Click below to find out where they landed ??? https://t.co/V8j6Fx42S5
Players Mentioned
