Meyrer Named Big Ten Cross Country Athlete of the Year
3/18/2021 3:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- On the strength of his second straight All-America performance at the rescheduled 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships this past Monday (March 15), Devin Meyrer was voted the Big Ten Athlete of the Year by the conference's coaches, the Big Ten announced Thursday (March 18).
Meyrer was the top finisher from the conference at the national meet, placing 24th overall in 30:27.9 on the 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) circuit over the grounds of the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course.
He was one of three All-Americans from the conference.
Not since Alan Webb won the award in 2001 has a Michigan man claimed this honor. He also joins current head coach Kevin Sullivan as a recipient of this award, as well as Sullivan's teammate John Mortimer. Sullivan won the award four times.
Meyrer ran hard with the chase pack behind a series of breakaway leaders throughout, keeping on a hot pace while navigating the challenging terrain of the course. He climbed as high as 18th with one kilometer to go.
In combination with his 16th-place finish from a year ago, Meyrer became the 11th man in school history to claim back-to-back All-America honors in cross country.
The distinction comes despite Meyrer and the Wolverines being unable to compete in January's Big Ten Cross Country Championships due to a Michigan athletics department-wide pause in activities as a COVID-19 precaution.
Though not technically a consideration in the award selection, Meyrer also had run an indoor school-record 13:40.66 for 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships three days earlier for second team All-America honors.
Meyrer will now focus on the outdoor track and field campaign, which will begin for him as early as March 26-27 for the first of four competitions at Indiana.
Players Mentioned
