Michigan
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Hurricane Forces Cancellation of adidas XC Challenge; Men to Compete at MSU
9/11/2018 4:19:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
» The threat of Hurricane Florence has canceled the No. 29 Wolverines' planned trip to Cary, N.C., for the adidas XC Challenge that was scheduled for Friday evening (Sept. 14).
» Instead, the team will compete in the Michigan State Spartan Invitational on Friday morning.
» Top Michigan Open finishers Isaac Harding, Andrew Lorant, Ben Hill and Jacob Lee will not be in action this weekend, as a group of Wolverines vying for spots on the eventual postseason roster will take center stage this weekend.
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THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 14 -- at Michigan State Spartan Invitational (East Lansing, Mich.), 11:40 a.m.
Hurricane Florence Cancels Adidas XC Challenge
The No. 29 University of Michigan men's cross country team canceled on Tuesday (Sept. 11) its trip to Cary, North Carolina, for the adidas XC Challenge, which was scheduled for Friday (Sept. 14). Hurricane Florence is projected to make landfall along the North Carolina coastline either Thursday night or Friday morning.
Instead, the team will compete in the Michigan State Spartan Invitational on Friday morning at 11:40 a.m.
The reigning men's Big Ten champion Wolverines were set to compete in their first intersquad competition of the 2018 season, but at the scheduled start time of 6 p.m. on Friday, much of the state of North Carolina will likely be engulfed by the storm.
Florence is, as of Tuesday, a Category 4 storm churning in the Atlantic Ocean, though it could become a Category 5 storm in the days leading up to its landfall. If it were to reach shore as a Category 4 storm, the National Hurricane Center reports that it would be the only storm of such intensity to have ever made landfall so far north.
Spartan Invitational Overview
After shaking off any leftover summer rust in its season-opening Michigan Open nearly two weeks ago, the Wolverines will face their first road test to defending its Big Ten team title in East Lansing, Michigan.
The Wolverines will build on their debut effort both in terms of competition and distance, with 26 other teams in the field and three extra kilometers added to the race.
Though Michigan was led in the opener by redshirt sophomores Isaac Harding, Andrew Lorant and Jacob Lee, and redshirt junior Ben Hill, as well as top NCAA Championships returner Jack Aho running unattached, that group will not compete at Michigan State.
Instead, a squad of runner looking to make an early-season statement for inclusion on the eventual postseason rosters will take center stage. Jacob Branch, Dominic Dimambro, Kevin Hall, Christian Hubaker, Gabe Mudel, Joost Plaetinck, Lewis Tate, John Tatter, Nick Trevisan and Ryan Wilkie will all potentially be in uniform for the Wolverines on Friday.
Michigan will get an early-season look at Big Ten rival and host No. 24 Michigan State -- as well as fellow NCAA Division I programs Central Michigan, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) and Youngstown State -- over the gently rolling hills of the eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) course at Forest Akers East Golf Course.
The Big Ten Championships are contested over that same 8K distance.
This will be the Wolverines' first scored competition of the season. For a breakdown of how team scoring works, click here.
It is also Michigan's first competition within the NCAA Championships at-large qualifying period that began last weekend, in which head-to-head victories contribute to a team's resume for NCAA Championships qualification. Should a team not finish first or second in its region, it would have to rely on having accrued the most head-to-head wins over other teams in the NCAA field.
However, any wins or losses in this weekend's competition will likely not ultimately count for or against the Wolverines due to the makeup of its roster. NCAA rules state that wins and losses will only be counted if a team runs for or more of the seven athletes who ultimately compete at the NCAA regional championships in November.
With Harding, Lorant, Lee, Hill and Aho all out this weekend but all expected to compete for the Wolverines in November, that leaves just two postseason spots remaining for the group competing this weekend.
Things to Know
• Led by former Great Lakes Region and two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men fell one position to No. 4 in the new Week 1 Great Lakes Regional rankings and No. 29 in the National Coaches' Poll announced Monday (Sept. 10) and Tuesday (Sept. 11), respectively, by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
• The next edition of the rankings will be announced Monday (Sept. 17) and Tuesday (Sept. 18), respectively.
• 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. The Wolverines trail Big Ten rivals Wisconsin, Michigan State and Indiana in the rankings.
• Among Big Ten teams nationally, Michigan is ranked third behind No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 24 Michigan State. Indiana, which ranks ahead of Michigan in the region, is just outside the top 30 receiving votes. Big Ten foes Penn State and Illinois also received national votes.
• Harding was Michigan's top in-uniform finisher as the overall runner-up, running a 15:23.3 time that was just three seconds off his sixth-place performance from a year ago. From last year's finish in what was his official collegiate debut, the redshirt sophomore went on to take 18th at Big Tens and 124th at the NCAA Championships.
• Among all of Michigan's top finishers, no one made a bigger step forward from last year than third-place Lorant. At this meet a year ago, the redshirt sophomore was 11th in 15:47.1; this year he came through in 15:25.2. The result was the next step in a progression than began on the track in 2018, as he ran 4:08.26 in the mile and 9:08.26 in the steeplechase.
• A breakthrough 2017 cross country campaign for redshirt junior Hill -- 22nd at Big Tens and 26th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional -- unfortunately gave way to a 2018 track season that saw him out of action for nearly its entirety. Back as a captain of the 2018 cross country squad, he ran 15:26.7 for fourth, just two seconds slower and three positions better than his season-opening run a year ago.
• Fifth-place Lee ran a nearly identical time on Friday to what he clocked a year ago -- 15:26.0 last year to 15:26.9. As an alternate on last year's postseason roster, he is now expected to step up into a consistent top-seven role as a leader of the team. His 10th-place finish in the Big Ten Outdoor 10,000-meter final is proof he is ready for that next step.
• Beyond the winner Robinson, notable unattached performances came from sixth-place Jack Aho and eighth-place John Tatter. Aho, who is Michigan's top returner from last year's NCAA Championships squad as the No. 4 scorer, ran without a Michigan uniform to potentially preserve his eligibility to take a redshirt season. Tatter, who was fourth at last fall's high school Foot Locker Nationals meet, was Michigan's top first-year collegian on the day in 15:42.1. For reference, Aho was 15th overall at this meet a year ago before going on to become an integral part of the postseason run.
The Course
Name: Forest Akers East Golf Course
Distance: Eight Kilometers (4.97 miles)
Maximum Elevation: 848 feet
Minimum Elevation: 873 feet
With the schedule change, here's a quick look at the 8K (4.97-mile) course at Forest Akers East Golf Course the #Team100 men will be running at the MSU Spartan Invite on Friday AM #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/0PIazkNh9H
— Michigan Cross Country / Track & Field (@UMichTrack) September 11, 2018
A Look Ahead
Friday, Sept. 28 -- at Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational (Madison, Wis.), 11:40 a.m. CDT
Saturday, Oct. 13 -- at Pre-National Invitational (Madison, Wis.), 11:30 a.m. CDT
Players Mentioned
