Michigan
Pre-National Invitational
Michigan Women Demonstrate Depth in Runner-Up Pre-Nationals Finish
10/13/2018 3:29:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Site: Madison, Wis. (Thomas Zimmer Championship Course)
Event: Pre-National Invitational
Distance: Six Kilometers (3.73 miles)
U-M Team Finish: 2nd of 36 teams (120 points)
Top U-M Individual: Avery Evenson, 8th (20:15.23)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 19 -- at Eastern Michigan Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.), 4:30 p.m.
• Photo Gallery | Complete Results
MADISON, Wis. -- The No. 10 University of Michigan women's cross country team passed its first test of the year against national-caliber competition and did so with flying colors, posting a runner-up team finish in the Wisconsin Pre-National Invitational "White Race" Saturday morning (Oct. 13).
Sixth-year seniors Avery Evenson and Hannah Meier posted top-15 individual finishes at the front of the race, and Michigan was by far the deepest team in the 36-team field -- featuring nine other national top-30 teams -- as the Wolverines scored 120 points in their last big meet of the regular season ahead of the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, Oct. 28.
Only defending national champion No. 3 New Mexico (67 points) finished higher than Michigan in the team standings, and the Wolverines pulled the upset over No. 5 Stanford by just nine points.
The White 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 "Cardinal Race" was ultimately won by Arkansas over Oregon, 51-71, with Oregon's Jessica Hull taking the individual win in 20:03.2.
Evenson fully announced her return to potential All-America territory for the first time since 2016 with an eighth-place finish in 20:15.23 over the same six-kilometer (3.73-mile) circuit at Thomas Zimmer Championship Course that will host the NCAA Championships on Nov. 17.
Meier, meanwhile, entered into the All-America conversation with a 12th-place finish in 20:33.57.
That pair led a Michigan lineup that finished as the only roster in the race with seven top-60 individual placers. Redshirt senior Claire Borchers was 23rd in 20:51.38, redshirt freshman Camille Davre was 37th in 21:02.22, and true first-year Wolverine Jessi Larson was 40th in 21:05.35 to round out the five-woman scoring lineup.
Junior Anna West in 48th (21:11.35) and redshirt sophomore Kathryn House in 59th (21:22.40) added to Michigan's superior depth to complete the seven-woman lineup.
Altogether, Michigan formed a unit with depth unmatched by any other team in the field. Only New Mexico, Stanford and sixth-place Wisconsin were even able to get five runners across in that same time. Only fourth-place Notre Dame was able to join Michigan with seven top-100 finishers.
Perhaps more impressive than the depth is the late-race clinic the Wolverines put on to make it a reality.
The Wolverines were third in the team standings behind both New Mexico and Stanford -- though gaining on the latter -- as the field crossed over the four-kilometer split point with just two kilometers left to go in the race.
That is where the Wolverines began their march toward the front. With much of the Michigan pack within sight of one another's breast cancer awareness pink uniforms and yellow hair bows -- their time spread between runners Nos. 1 and 5 was just 21.5 seconds, second-best in the field at that 4K point -- they were able to key off one another as they moved up.
Evenson moved up two spots as she covered the final two kilometers from that split point to the finish in 6:30.9, third-fastest only to individual winner Weini Kelati of New Mexico (6:18.8) and runner-up and reigning NCAA champion Ednah Kurgat of New Mexico (6:30.8).
Meier's 6:39.7 over that same distance -- the ninth-fastest in the field -- moved her up six spots in the individual standings, and Borchers' 6:51.6 closing split was the 19th-fastest and enough to move her up eight spots.
With Davre (6:56.9) and Larson (6:59.6) both also dipping under seven minutes in that closing stretch, Michigan joined New Mexico as the only teams with five runners to break seven minutes in that span.
Michigan's late-race strength proved to be the difference, as the Wolverines' scorers ended up climbing a combined 19 spots in the final two kilometers, while Stanford's scorers dropped back 17 spots.
Michigan's depth continued to manifest itself in the unseeded "Gray Race," as redshirt freshman Alice Hill claimed her first career individual cross country victory in a sprint to the finish. Hill went back-and-forth with New Mexico's Emily Martin and Catrina Thomas for the better part of two kilometers, ultimately outkicking the pair to cross the line in 21:10.32.
After coming into the final 300 meters or so neck-and-neck with the Lobo pair, Hill opened up a two-second advantage over Martin and a seven-second gap over Thomas.
Plugging her result into the seeded "White Race" in which the Michigan "A" team competed, she would have given Michigan a seventh top-50 finisher.
Redshirt junior Faith Reynolds was sixth in the unseeded race in 21:42.76, while redshirt freshman Raquel Powers was 11th in 21:57.10. Redshirt junior Audrey Belf was 15th (22:01.28) and redshirt senior Rachel Coleman placed 26th (22:11.83).
Combined, they posted the top team score in the "Gray Race," 36-71 over the second squad from BYU.
Full Michigan Results
White Race Individuals
8. Avery Evenson -- 20:15.23
12. Hannah Meier -- 20:33.57
23. Claire Borchers -- 20:51.38
37. Camille Davre -- 21:02.22
40. Jessi Larson -- 21:05.35
48. Anna West -- 21:11.35
59. Kathryn House -- 21:22.40
Gray Race Individuals
1. Alice Hill -- 21:10.4
6. Faith Reynolds -- 21:42.8
11. Raquel Powers -- 21:57.1
15. Audrey Belf -- 22:01.3
26. Rachel Coleman -- 22:11.9
White Race Team Standings
1. #3 New Mexico -- 67 points
2. #10 MICHIGAN -- 120 points
3. #5 Stanford -- 129 points
4. #22 Notre Dame -- 172 points
5. #16 Washington -- 199 points
6. #8 Wisconsin -- 199 points
7. #12 Furman -- 220 points
8. Southern Utah (RV) -- 237 points
9. #28 Georgia -- 279 points
10. Air Force -- 298 points
11. #24 Yale -- 379 points
12. #20 Utah State -- 384 points
13. Kansas -- 406 points
14. Cal Poly -- 411 points
15. Harvard -- 430 points
16. Colorado State* -- 435 points
17. Eastern Michigan -- 475 points
18. Wake Forest -- 494 points
19. San Francisco* -- 499 points
20. Arizona State -- 542 points
21. Weber State -- 551 points
22. Purdue -- 566 points
23. Clemson -- 577 points
24. South Dakota State -- 650 points
25. Louisville -- 654 points
26. Washington State -- 659 points
27. SE Missouri State -- 671 points
28. Nebraska -- 671 points
29. Indiana State -- 683 points
30. Central Michigan -- 727 points
31. Arkansas State -- 815 points
32. Idaho State -- 829 points
33. William and Mary -- 901 points
34. Lamar -- 906 points
35. UT-Martin -- 1027 points
36. USC -- 1051 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 raceday 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 4:30Â 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
