Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Michigan Men Third in Competitive Big Ten Championships
11/3/2019 1:53:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State University Golf Club)
Event: Big Ten Championships
Distance: Eight Kilometers (4.97 miles)
U-M Team Finish: 3rd of 12 teams (78 points)
Top U-M Individual: Devin Meyrer, 9th (24:10.9)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 15 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Madison, Wis.)
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team kicked off its 2019 postseason run with a strong showing at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (Nov. 3).
The Wolverines finished third in the 12-team race with 78 points as second team All-Big Ten honorees Devin Meyrer and Jack Aho led the way for the Wolverines.
Meyrer crossed first for Michigan with a ninth-place finish, covering the eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) Ohio State University Golf Club course in 24:10.9. In his best race of the year, Aho took 14th in 24:23.7.
Michigan has now finished top-three in the conference in seven of the past nine seasons, including titles in 2015 and 2017.
Rounding out Michigan's scoring lineup -- comprised of its top five runners -- were 16th-place Isaac Harding (24:26.6), 17th-place Joost Plaetinck (24:27.2) and 22nd-place Jordy Hewitt (24:31.7).
The Wolverines improved on their pre-meet ranking of fourth in the field, with only No. 14 Wisconsin (56 points) and No. 13 Indiana (70 points) finishing ahead of them. Michigan also was able to knock off No. 9 Purdue (82 points).
For the third race in a row, and on-brand with the team's recent history, the Wolverines excelled at keeping a tight-knit pack. All of Michigan's top five finished within 20.8 seconds of one another as they crossed the line, for the second-best 1-5 spread in the field.
Michigan's sixth and seventh runners -- 25th-place Ben Hill and 26th-place Jacob Lee -- followed suit through the chute within another 11 seconds to give the Wolverines the best 1-7 spread (32.2 seconds) and the best 1-9 spread (66.7 seconds) in the race.
Michigan was the only team in the field with six top-25 finishers, and the only team with seven in the top 30.
The Wolverines established strong positioning early in the race, making a decisive move by three kilometers to put four in the top 15 -- Plaetinck, Aho, Meyrer and Hewitt -- and all nine in the top 50 in what was still a significantly bunched pack. By four kilometers, the Wolverines had pushed into the team lead with a narrow 49-54 edge over Wisconsin.
Michigan held fairly steady over the next two kilometers as they dropped only one spot to second, but then fell to third with just one kilometer of racing remaining. The squad dug in its collective heels and managed to claw back a point over the final 1,000 meters, but were unable to close the gap on the Badgers and Hoosiers.
Meyrer was remarkable in his consistency over the second half of the race, moving up to 10th by the 5K split and remaining there over the next 2K. The former Baylor transfer logged the fifth-fastest split over the final kilometer, covering the dash to the finish in 2:55.3. He was rewarded with All-Conference honors for the first time in his Michigan career.
Aho had his best race of the year for the Wolverines, earning All-Conference honors for the first time in his career. After moving into the top 10 by the 3K split, he would drop no lower than 14th the rest of the way.
Harding also had his best race of the year in the biggest meet of the season to date. After climbing to 17th at the halfway point, he also did not give much ground. His splits from there on out were between 11th and 16th, where he finished.
Plaetinck reaffirmed his breakthrough regular season as Michigan's No. 4 scorer on the day. The leader of the big pack at the halfway point, Plaetinck dropped down to 21st as the racing picked up over the next kilometer. He was able to stop the slide and checked in 23rd at 7K, at which point he mounted one of the biggest rallies in the field.
His 2:58.0 over the final kilometer was the eighth-fastest closing kick in the field and propelled him past six opposing runners for what was tied for the seventh-biggest move in the field.
Michigan will face many of these teams again -- including Wisconsin, Indiana and Purdue -- with bids to the NCAA Championships on the line at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at Wisconsin on Nov. 15.
Michigan Results
9. Devin Meyrer -- 24:10.9
14. Jack Aho -- 24:23.7
16. Isaac Harding -- 24:26.6
17. Joost Plaetinck -- 24:27.2
22. Jordy Hewitt -- 24:31.7
25. Ben Hill -- 24:42.7
26. Jacob Lee -- 24:43.1
50. Jacob Branch -- 25:01.6
62. Nick Foster -- 25:17.6
Team Standings
1. No. 14 Wisconsin -- 56 points
2. No. 13 Indiana -- 70 points
3. No. 17 MICHIGAN -- 78 points
4. No. 9 Purdue -- 82 points
5. Penn State -- 169 points
6. Nebraska -- 172 points
7. Michigan State -- 176 points
8. Minnesota -- 193 points
9. Illinois -- 219 points
10. Iowa -- 224 points
11. Ohio State -- 317 points
12. Rutgers -- 386 points
Players Mentioned
