Michigan
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
Depth Propels Michigan Men to Runner-Up Finish at Notre Dame
10/1/2021 1:03:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Site: South Bend, Ind. (Burke Golf Course)
Event: Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
Distance: 5 miles (8.05 kilometers)
U-M Team Finish: 2nd of 23 teams (150 points)
Top U-M Individual: Devin Meyrer, 24th (24:02.9)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 15 -- at Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational (Madison, Wis.)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Bolstered by depth unmatched by any other team in a race that featured 14 nationally ranked teams, the No. 25-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team entered the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Friday (Oct. 1) seeded sixth and left with a close runner-up finish in the team's biggest race yet this fall.
Two-time All-American Devin Meyrer led a Wolverine contingent that placed seven runners inside the top 50 of the five-mile (8.05-kilometer) race to lead the squad to a 150-point effort, just 21 shy of overtaking No. 19 Furman for the overall win.
The Wolverines dispatched 12 nationally ranked teams, including regional foes like third-place No. 10 Butler with 177 points and a shorthanded 11th-place No. 2 Notre Dame squad, as well as Big Ten rivals in 13th-place No. 30 Purdue (316 points), 14th-place No. 26 Indiana (325 points) and 20th-place Illinois (461 points).
A combination of tight pack running and proximity to the front of the race proved key in Michigan's runner-up showing. The Wolverines finished with all seven runners inside the top 50, while no other team had more than five -- and only Furman managed to get seven across among the top 100.
Meyrer placed 24th overall in 24:02.9, followed closely by Zach Stewart in 26th (24:05.3), 29th-place Joost Plaetinck (24:07.1), 33rd-place Oli Raimond (24:11.3), Nick Foster in 38th (24:16.8), 44th-place Christian Hubaker (24:26.5) and 48th-place Colton Yesney (24:30.1).
The spread between Michigan's top runner in Meyrer through all five of its scorers to Foster was a scant 13.9 seconds. Furman had the next-best 1-5 spread at 42.3 seconds; Michigan's spread through its seventh runner was smaller at 27.2 seconds.
Michigan went through the mile checkpoint in sixth overall with 177 points, led by 18th-place Meryer and the duo of Raimond and Foster in 25th and 26th, respectively. The Wolverines' top seven through Hubaker in 84th was still relatively tight with nore more than six seconds separating Meyrer at 4:31 from the rest of the scoring lineup at that point.
The Wolverines made a decisive move in the middle of the race that catapulted them up to third at the four-kilometer split and to second by 5.13 kilometers.
The trio of Stewart (36-spot improvement), Plaetinck (34) and Hubaker (33) climbed a combined 103 spots to 35th, 39th and 51st, respectively to propel the Wolverines up to third with 198 points at the 4K mark as the race started to speed up at the front and string out behind.
Michigan's depth was beginning to reveal itself at that halfway split, with Meyrer (31st), Stewart (35th), Raimond (37th), Foster (47th), Plaetinck (48th), Hubaker (51st) and Yesney (58th) all running in the top 60. No other team had more than five in the top 60 at that point.
Plaetinck continued to move forward over the next 1.13 kilometers, jumping an additional nine spots up to 39th at the 5.13-kilometer mark. Each of the top-five Michigan runners at that point had either moved up or stayed steady since the halfway point, pushing the Wolverines past No. 15 Alabama, 185-187, into second, behind only No. 19 Furman at 132.
Michigan continued to close in on Furman and pull away from the rest of the field as the 6.94-kilometer split came and went, tallying 169 points through the split as Furman held firm at 132. Regional foe Butler made a big jump to third with 191 points behind the Wolverines.
Stewart pushed up five spots to 28th, Plaetinck continued to surge with a nine-spot improvement to 30th and fifth runner Foster climbed four spots to 43rd, as the Wolverines now had six runners in the top 50. They were joined by 32nd-place Meyrer, Raimond in 36th and Hubaker in 45th.
Though Plaetinck and Stewart were running splits well above their places -- they were the 11th- and 20th-fastest men in the field between 5.13K and 6.94K, respectively -- cracks were starting to form as Meyrer had slowed and dropped two spots in the standings.
The reigning Big Ten runner of the year nipped in the bud any of those concerns over the final kilometer as he rallied with the race's 17th-fastest closing kick to finish 24th overall and the top Wolverine runner.
His finish spearheaded a late gear change for the Wolverines as a whole that nearly delivered them the team title. Led by Meyrer, each of the top-seven Wolverine finishers moved up in the final kilometer.
Yesney clinched a top-50 finish with an 11-spot surge over the final K and the race's ninth-fastest split over that span. Though his No. 7 finish in the Wolverines' lineup did not ultimately factor into the UM score, that sort of depth in the postseason could make the difference in displacing other teams' runners in close races.
Foster also cruised in with the race's 12th-fastest closing split to gain five spots to 38th. Raimond gained three spots at the end, while Stewart gained two and the steeplechase duo of Plaetinck and Hubaker each moved up one.
Michigan will spend the next couple of weeks training before returning to action Friday, Oct. 15, for the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis.
Full Michigan Results
24. Devin Meyrer -- 24:02.9
26. Zach Stewart -- 24:05.3
29. Joost Plaetinck -- 24:07.1
33. Oli Raimond -- 24:11.3
38. Nick Foster -- 24:16.8
44. Christian Hubaker -- 24:26.5
48. Colton Yesney -- 24:30.1
155. James Gedris -- 25:52.7
Team Standings
1. No. 19 Furman -- 129 points
2. No. 25 MICHIGAN -- 150 points
3. No. 10 Butler -- 177 points
4. No. 29 Florida State -- 204 points
5. Southern Utah (RV) -- 207 points
6. No. 15 Alabama -- 225 points
7. No. 28 Weber State -- 227 points
8. No. 18 Ole Miss -- 236 points
9. Charlotte (RV) -- 247 points
10. No. 2 Notre Dame -- 286 points
11. NC State (RV) -- 287 points
12. Georgetown (RV) -- 288 points
13. No. 30 Purdue -- 316 points
14. No. 26 Indiana -- 325 points
15. Kentucky -- 345 points
16. Eastern Michigan -- 389 points
17. Penn -- 394 points
18. Pittsburgh -- 428 points
19. Virginia Tech -- 443 points
20. Illinois -- 461 points
21. Virginia -- 476 points
22. Florida -- 496 points
23. New Mexico -- 561 points
Men's Open Race
The Wolverines also had three men run in the open race later in the afternoon. John Florence was the top finisher among them, finishing 24th overall in 25:43.9 on the same five-mile course. Joe Meyers was close behind in 28th with a 25:51.0 finish time, and Michael Hancock was 37th in 25:59.7.
Players Mentioned
