Michigan
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Wolverine Weekly: NCAA Great Lakes Regional News and Notes
11/6/2018 4:18:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
» A berth to the NCAA Championships is on the line for the No. 27 University of Michigan men's cross country team at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday at 12:15 p.m.
» Led by a young corps, including Jordy Hewitt and Jack Aho, the Wolverines will be in for a battle for two automatic NCAA Championship bids and at-large berth positioning.
» Friday will mark the first time this season the Michigan men will race over the 10-kilometer (6.22-mile) distance, as opposed to the eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) distance run at Big Tens.
THIS WEEK
Friday, Nov. 9 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.), 12:15 p.m.
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A berth to the NCAA Championships will be at stake for the No. 27-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team on Friday (Nov. 9) at 12:15 p.m., as they take on a tough field at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Coming off a hard-fought fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships two weekends ago, the Wolverines will get another shot at many of its conference rivals as the race distance changes from eight kilometers (4.97 miles) to 10 kilometers (6.22 miles) for the NCAA postseason.
Led by All-Big Ten honoree Jordy Hewitt and returning All-Region runner Jack Aho, Michigan will look to capitalize on the depth it has shown all season long by running closer to the front of the race throughout the two loops of the 10K course at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
Big Ten rivals No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 15 Purdue, No. 23 Indiana and vote-receiving Michigan State all in the field, but so are ACC champion No. 10 Notre Dame, MAC champion Miami (Ohio), Atlantic 10 champion Dayton and Horizon League champion Youngstown State. With that lineup, the Wolverines will have a fight on their hands to advance to the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18, in Madison, Wisconsin.
Only the top two schools in the team standings on Friday will be guaranteed berths to Madison, while teams finishing third-or-lower are subject to the at-large berth process. Of the 31-team nationals field, 18 teams will earn their way to Wisconsin by way of automatic berths from the nine regions, with the 13 remaining slots open for at-large qualification.
The Wolverines advanced automatically as a top-two finisher last year before going on to finish 10th at NCAAs.
Doing so again in 2018 will require another strong performance against what is shaping up to be one of the deepest regional meets around the country on Friday. Only the West Region (eight) and Mountain Region (six) have more top-30 teams lining up than the Great Lakes.
Michigan is ranked fifth among those teams in the latest regional rankings behind Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Purdue and Indiana.
Based on projections by multiple media outlets, the Wolverines' margin for error is small. Both Flotrack and The Stride Report have calculated that Michigan would be the last at-large selection into the meet if Michigan were to finish fourth.
The Wolverines narrowly missed third place at the Big Ten meet by a single point behind Indiana, but were only two points ahead of Michigan State.
The Lineup
Teams are allowed to field a lineup of seven runners from among a declared NCAA postseason roster of as many as 12 runners. The first five runners across the line will combine to constitute a team's score, while the next two are score "displacers" that serve to boost the scores of opposing teams.
In addition to the aforementioned Hewitt and Aho, the Michigan lineup could include the likes of, in alphabetical order: Anthony Berry, Jacob Branch, Dominic Dimambro, Isaac Harding, Ben Hill, Christian Hubaker, Jacob Lee, Gabe Mudel, John Tatter and Ryan Wilkie.
• Hewitt had a breakthrough day at the Big Ten Championships two weekends ago in a 13th-place finish to earn second team All-Big Ten honors. Previously, his best effort on the grass had been an All-Region 23rd-place finish in 2016, which came on the heels of a 57th-place finish at Big Tens. The Aussie appears to be peaking at the right time, moving up from being Michigan's 14th runner at the season-opening Michigan Open to being No. 5 at the Nuttycombe Invite, No. 3 at Pre-Nationals and No. 1 at Big Tens.
• Aho has been either first, second or third across the line for Michigan in each of his three outings in-uniform this season. Aho's big breakthrough as a true freshman in 2017 came at the regional meet, where he was 25th for All-Region honors before going on to take 122nd as a scorer on Michigan's 10th-place NCAA Championships team.
• Hill has been trending upward from last year's performances all season long, most recently finishing 21st as Michigan's No. 2 runner at Big Tens. After taking an early lead in the race and subsequently being sucked back into the pack, he was able to finish strong. He took a similar tactic at regionals last year before finishing 26th -- just one spot off of All-Region.
• Michigan's top runner at the Nuttycombe Invitational, Lee, will be looking to rebound after a disappointing 38th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. This will be his first NCAA regional competition.
• Just as Aho was a true freshman who assumed a role in the five-man scoring lineup a year ago, Tatter could do the same this year. Now lining up for his first career 10K race after five successful runs at 8K, Tatter moved up from sixth in the lineup at Nuttycombe to being the fifth scorer at Pre-Nationals and Big Tens.
The Team, The Team, The Team
• Led by former Great Lakes Region and two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men dropped two spots to No. 5 in the latest Great Lakes Regional rankings (Oct. 29) and held steady at No. 27 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Coaches' Poll (Oct. 30).
• The final edition of the national poll will be announced Monday, Nov. 12.
• Michigan was ranked No. 4 in last year's preseason regional rankings before going on to finish second at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional to secure one of the region's two automatic berths to the NCAA Championships.
• Among Big Ten teams nationally, Michigan is ranked fourth behind No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 15 Purdue and No. 23 Indiana. Michigan State is also receiving votes in the poll.
The Course
Name: LaVern Gibson Championship Course
Distance: 10 Kilometers (6.22 miles)
It's 10K time! Here's a look at the 10K (6.2-mile) course at @XCTownUSA that they men will run on Friday at the #NCAAXC Great Lakes Regional #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/jt4do5suGF
— Michigan Cross Country / Track & Field (@UMichTrack) November 6, 2018
A Look Ahead
Saturday, Nov. 17 -- at NCAA Championships (Madison, Wis.)
Players Mentioned
