Michigan
Last Chance Invitational
Wolverines Win Women's Title at Florida State with Perfect Score
3/5/2021 10:04:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Site: Tallahassee, Fla. (Apalachee Regional Park)
Event: Winter Cross Country Last Chance Invitational
Distance: Six kilometers (3.73 miles)
U-M Result: 1st place of 4Â teams (15 points)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 7 -- NCAA Selection Show (NCAA.com), 1 p.m.
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team put its best foot forward Friday morning (March 5) in its lone regular-season cross country competition of the season, winning the Florida State Winter Cross Country Last Chance Invitational with a perfect 15-point score.
Led by decisive individual winner Ericka VanderLende, the Wolverines' nine runners all finished top-10 and turned in a showing that will likely bode well in their bid to gain selection for the NCAA Championships later this month.
The next closest team in the standings was South Florida with 54 points.
The cross country All-American VanderLende clocked 20:31.3 over the six-kilometer (3.73-mile) course at the Apalachee Regional Park, claiming the victory by 40 seconds. She established herself as the clear leader halfway through the race and turned on the jets from there, with her advantage ballooning from two seconds to nearly 20 by four kilometers (2.49 miles).
She was the first of seven consecutive Wolverine finishers atop the leaderboard. The quartet of runner-up Kathryn House (21:11.4), third-place Jena Metwalli (21:17.7), fourth-place Katelynne Hart (21:20.6) and Alice Hill (21:21.2) were all separated by less than 10 seconds.
Sixth-place Kayla Windemuller (21:22.0) and seventh-place Samantha Tran (21:29.8) were both less than 10 seconds behind that group.
Michigan now awaits its NCAA Championships qualifying fate as berths will be announced on the NCAA.com Selection Show Sunday (March 7) starting at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
