Michigan
Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational
Michigan Wins Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invite
9/10/2021 11:48:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Site: State College, Pa. (Blue and White Golf Courses)
Event: Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational
Distance: 5.2 miles (8.37 kilometers)
U-M Team Finish: 1st of 6 teams (41 points)
Top U-M Individual: Devin Meyrer, 3rd (25:18.1)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 1 -- at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), Noon
• Complete Results (PDF)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The No. 26-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team emerged victorious in its first intersquad competition of the fall 2021 campaign Friday morning (Sept. 10), topping a field of nationally recognized teams and conference foes at the Penn State Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational.
Third-place Devin Meyrer and fourth-place Oli Raimond -- making his official U-M cross country debut -- led a contingent of seven Wolverines to finish top-20 individually as the team combined to score 41 points.
National vote-receiving Syracuse was the runner-up with 48 points after a late-race surge, with No. 25 Georgetown a more distant third with 67. Big Ten rivals Minnesota (93 points), Penn State (123) and Ohio State (164) rounded out the team scoring.
Michigan will see the latter three times on this course once more in a month-and-a-half's time for the Big Ten Championships on Halloween weekend.
Colton Yesney built on his strong third-place finish at the Michigan Open to take 10th in this race that was two miles longer, followed in 11th by steeplechase specialist Joost Plaetinck. Zach Stewart was 13th in his 2021 in-uniform debut, with Michigan Open winner Nick Foster in 16th and steeplechase All-American Christian Hubaker 19th.
The Wolverines established themselves at the front of the pack early and rarely ceded that position as the race began in earnest around the halfway point. Through the five-kilometer (3.11-mile) split point, Michigan had dropped to a narrow second-place position behind Georgetown, 39-42, but were well positioned with nearly its entire contingent running just off the shoulder of the chase-pack leader. A Georgetown runner had opened up a 10-second gap on the rest of the field.
With only a kilometer to go, the two-time cross country All-American Meyrer had taken the lead amongst a group of 10 lead runners that also included Raimond and Yesney, with Plaetinck, Foster and Hubaker just off the back.
Michigan reclaimed the overall lead with 40 points as its pack of runners held steady overall, while Georgetown took a big 36-point hit to 75 points and Syracuse jumped into contention with 47 points.
Ultimately, neither team would make significant moves over the course of the final kilometer, as both teams added a single point to their totals.
Michigan will take several weeks to train before returning to action Oct. 1 for the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
Full Michigan Results
3. Devin Meyrer -- 25:18.1
4. Oli Raimond -- 25:22.6
10. Colton Yesney -- 25:30.2
11. Joost Plaetinck -- 25:34.0
13. Zach Stewart -- 25:41.4
16. Nick Foster -- 25:43.8
19. Christian Hubaker -- 25:44.8
26. Jack Spamer -- 26:00.8
27. Cole Johnson -- 26:02.3
40. Joe Meyers -- 26:19.6
43. James Gedris -- 26:26.7
49. Michael Hancock -- 26:46.2
Players Mentioned
