Michigan
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
Michigan Ready for Test at Notre Dame
10/2/2019 2:40:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
» Friday (Oct. 4) will mark the debut of Michigan's top squad as it takes on nationally ranked teams from around the country at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
» Eight Michigan men will compete in the top-seeded Blue race at 1:45 p.m., with as many as six more to run in the subsequent open race at 2:30 p.m.
THIS WEEK
Friday, Oct. 4 -- at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), 1:45 p.m.
Live Results
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will get its first big test of the 2019 season as much of its top lineup makes its proper debut on Friday (Oct. 4) against a slew of nationally-ranked schools at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. The top-seeded Blue Race gets underway at 1:45 p.m. on the five-mile (approximately eight-kilometer) circuit of the Notre Dame Burke Golf Course as Michigan's top nine men battle for potential postseason positioning. Six more Wolverines will run in the open race to follow at 2:30 p.m.
With 11Â other national top-30 teams in the field -- including Big Ten foes No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 19 Indiana and No. 21 Purdue -- the Wolverines have an opportunity to notch valuable head-to-head victories that could count toward NCAA Championships qualifying.
Of those who could suit up for the Wolverines in either race are All-American Jack Aho; Big Ten Athletes of the Week Isaac Harding and Christian Hubaker; All-Big Ten honoree Jordy Hewitt; captains Ben Hill and Devin Meyrer; highly touted freshman Nick Foster; IAAF World U20 Championships competitor Gabe Mudel; Cole Johnson, Will Landowne, and Joost Plaetinck.
This would be the first race of the year for Hewitt, and the collegiate debut for Foster.
That group will have to contend with a field that features three top-10 teams in No. 4 Colorado, No. 9 Notre Dame, and No. 10 Wisconsin.
No. 13 Colorado State, No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 15 NC State, No. 18 Wyoming, No. 19 Indiana, No. 21 Purdue, No. 26 Eastern Kentucky and No. 29 Alabama -- as well as national vote-getters Florida State, Gonzaga and Southern Utah -- also will provide a stiff challenge for the Wolverines.
The race also will serve as a mini-Big Ten preview as the Wolverines are expected to battle Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin for the team title in November. Conference foe Iowa also will run on Saturday.
Scoring head-to-head victories over as many of these teams as possible will benefit the Wolverines down the road when it comes time to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Only the top two teams in each of the nine NCAA regional championships on Nov. 15 (18 total teams) will advance automatically to nationals on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The remaining 13 teams in the NCAA field will be filled out on an "at-large" basis, selected primarily in descending order of how many head-to-head victories they accumulated to that point.
Fans can follow along with live results provided by Endurance Timing, as well as via live updates on the program's official Twitter account, @UMichTrack.
Things to Know
• Led by former Great Lakes Region and two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men remained ranked No. 3 in the latest regular-season Great Lakes Regional rankings and No. 16 in the National Coaches' Poll announced Monday (Sept. 30) and Tuesday (Oct. 1), respectively, by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
• Michigan was ranked No. 3 in last year's preseason regional rankings, which is precisely where it finished at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The finish was ultimately strong enough to advance the Wolverines to the NCAA Championships.
• Michigan is ranked second nationally among Big Ten squads, behind only No. 10 Wisconsin. Just behind the Wolverines are No. 19 Indiana and No. 21 Purdue.
• In addition to its USTFCCCA national rank, Michigan also checked in at No. 15 in The Stride Report's rankings and at No. 25 per Flotrack.
• This will be Aho's first cross country race in uniform for the Wolverines since finishing 34th at the NCAA Championships last November. On the track in the interim he broke significant time thresholds by going sub-8:00 (7:57.54) at 3,000 meters and sub-14:00 (13.59.37) at 5,000 meters.
• Harding and Hubaker enter Friday as former Big Ten Athletes of the Week during this 2019 campaign. Harding got the nod from the conference in the opening week of the season after leading the Wolverines at the Michigan Open, while Hubaker was tapped for the honor following at win at the NC State adidas XC Challenge. Harding will be well-rested for the race, having not competed since August.
• Like Aho, Hewitt will be donning the Maize and Blue for the first time this season in South Bend on Friday. This will be Hewitt's last "first race" of his career, as the 2018 Second-Team All-Big Ten honoree has only this cross country season remaining on his eligibility ledger.
• After making his official Michigan cross country debut at the Michigan Open earlier this season, this will mark Meyrer's first truly competitive cross country race in the Block M. The team will be looking for him to replicate similar results to his debut track season in 2019, when he was the fourth-place finisher in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships 10,000-meter final.
• Friday will serve as the official Michigan debut of highly touted freshman Foster, who impressed in an unattached sixth-place finish at the five-kilometer (3.11-mile) Michigan Open. As a two-time Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state champion and a 13th-place Nike Cross Nationals finisher in high school, Foster is no stranger to success on the trails. This, however, will be his first test in an eight-kilometer race.
A Look Ahead
• Friday, Oct. 18 -- at Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational (Madison, Wis.), 11:40 a.m. CDT
• Friday, Oct. 25 -- at EMU Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.), 4:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 3 -- at Big Ten Championships (Columbus, Ohio), 10:45 a.m.
Players Mentioned
