Michigan
Pre-National Invitational
U-M Displays Depth, Pack-Running Prowess in 11th-Place Pre-Nationals Finish
10/13/2018 4:10:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Site: Madison, Wis. (Thomas Zimmer Championship Course)
Event: Pre-National Invitational
Distance: Eight Kilometers (4.97 miles)
U-M Team Finish: 11th of 35 teams (338 points)
Top U-M Individual: Jack Aho, 53rd (24:39.20)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 19 -- at Eastern Michigan Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.), 5 p.m.
• Complete Results
MADISON, Wis. -- The No. 20 University of Michigan men's cross country team was among the best in the field in Saturday morning's (Oct. 13) Wisconsin Pre-National Invitational "Cardinal Race" in terms of depth and pack-running, but the Wolverines managed only an 11th-place finish in their final big regular-season race of the year.
Despite having the smallest time spread between runners Nos. 1 and 5 of any team in the field and being among the two teams with seven top-90 individual finishers, Michigan placed 11th in the 35-team race with 338 points. Two-time defending national champion No. 1 Northern Arizona took the win with 41 points.
The Wolverines, competing in their final national-level meet ahead of the Oct. 28 Big Ten Championships, were within striking distance of ninth-place Gonzaga (307 points) and 10th-place No. 15 Southern Utah. The Wolverines entered as the eighth-best team in the field.
The Cardinal Race was one of two evenly balanced races at the Pre-National Invitational, with the other race featuring just as many nationally ranked teams. The "White Race" was ultimately won by BYU over Washington, 29-106, with BYU's Rory Linkletter taking the individual win in 23:54.4.
Sophomore Jack Aho led the way individually for the Wolverines, placing 53rd overall in 24:39.20 on the eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) course at the same Thomas Zimmer Championship Course venue that will host the NCAA Championships on Nov. 17.
Redshirt sophomore Isaac Harding was the Michigan No. 2 in 62nd, crossing the line in 24:44.20. Redshirt junior Jordy Hewitt in 74th (24:49.38), redshirt sophomore Jacob Lee in 75th (24:50.10) and true first-year Wolverine John Tatter in 79th (24:53.14) rounded out the five-man scoring lineup for Michigan.
Redshirt junior Ben Hill in 83rd and redshirt sophomore Jacob Branch in 85th completed the full seven-man roster for the Wolverines.
Just 13 seconds separated Aho from Tatter, giving Michigan the best 1-5 time spread of any team in the field by more than six seconds over Gonzaga's 19-second gap. Stretching it back to include both Hill and Branch, Michigan's 1-7 spread was a tight 16 seconds; no other team was that close through five runners, and the next-best 1-7 spread was 33.5 seconds by winner Northern Arizona.
The Wolverines shared the honor of most top-100 finishers with Northern Arizona, as those were the only two squads with their full seven-man lineups all through the finish chute among the top-100 individual finishers.
While the depth was there in spades for Michigan, the Wolverines were unable to latch on to the front of the race and drive down their team score.
For much of the early going of the race, nearly the entire nearly 250-runner field was congealed into one large pack. The race began to string out in its second half, and as it approached the three-quarter split point, the Wolverines emerged in 11th place with all seven runners inside the top 100.
With both Aho (45th) and Harding (50th) both inside the top-50, and given Michigan's tendency to surge late in races, the Wolverines seemed to be in strong position to move through the field in the final quarter of the contest.
The same coordinated late-race surge that powered the Wolverines to a strong Nuttycombe Invitational finish on this same course two weekends ago did not fully materialize.
Hewitt was the only Michigan scorer to make forward progress in the closing stages of the race as he moved up six spots to 74th. While No. 4 Lee was able to hold relatively steady with a three-position drop, Aho (-8), Harding (-12) and Tatter (-14) were unable to maintain their ground.
Hill and Branch were both able to pick up double-digit advances, up 13 and 10 spots, respectively.
In the unseeded "Gray Race" to close out the day, Michigan put two runners in the top-20 in 17th-place redshirt sophomore Anthony Berry in 25:15.90 and 19th-place true freshman Wolverine Gabe Mudel in 25:19.91.
Redshirt freshmen Christian Hubaker in 26th and Dominic Dimambro in 37th were joined by 52nd-place redshirt senior Ryan Wilkie to round on the lineup.
Full Michigan Results
Cardinal Race Individuals
53. Jack Aho -- 24:39.20
62. Isaac Harding -- 24:44.20
74. Jordy Hewitt -- 24:49.38
75. Jacob Lee -- 24:50.10
79. John Tatter -- 24:52.14
83. Ben Hill -- 24:54.38
85. Jacob Branch -- 24:55.07
Gray Race Individuals
17. Anthony Berry -- 25:15.90
19. Gabe Mudel -- 25:19.91
26. Christian Hubaker -- 25:39.63
37. Dominic Dimambro -- 25:52.43
52. Ryan Wilkie -- 26:21.76
Cardinal Race Team Standings
1. #1 Northern Arizona -- 41 points
2. #5 Stanford -- 84 points
3. #11 Colorado -- 110 points
4. #13 Oregon -- 152 points
5. Wyoming -- 191 points
6. #9 Colorado State -- 194 points
7. #22 Ole Miss -- 220 points
8. Furman -- 231 points
9. Gonzaga (RV) -- 307 points
10. #15 Southern Utah -- 310 points
11. #20 MICHIGAN -- 338 points
12. Utah State (RV) -- 383 points
13. #3 Wisconsin -- 396 points
14. #26 NC State -- 423 points
15. Cal Poly -- 456 points
16. Iowa -- 511 points
17. Belmont -- 535 points
18. California -- 573 points
19. Campbell -- 577 points
20. Kansas -- 580 points
21. Idaho State -- 598 points
22. South Dakota State -- 614 points
23. Duke (RV) -- 624 points
24. Dayton -- 636 points
25. William and Mary -- 660 points
26. Lamar -- 663 points
27. Georgia -- 735 points
28. Arizona State -- 743 points
29. Yale -- 747 points
30. Youngstown State -- 761 points
31. UMass Lowell -- 764 points
32. Richmond -- 772 points
33. Utah Valley -- 810 points
34. Central Michigan -- 872 points
35. SE Missouri State -- 1128 points
Up Next for Michigan
Though nearly the entire primary competition lineup will be resting this upcoming weekend in preparation for the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, Oct. 28, the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic on Friday (Oct. 19) will provide a final opportunity for Wolverine runners to either make a final run at postseason roster inclusion or get one more race-day experience in before the roster is reduced to postseason levels.
Held at Hudson Mills Metropark near neighboring Dexter, Michigan, the five-kilometer (3.11-mile) race will begin at 5 p.m. Admission to the meet is free, but attendees are subject to the daily per-vehicle rate of $10 for Metropark visitors.
Players Mentioned
