Michigan
Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational
Road Trip to Penn State Awaits Michigan Men
9/8/2021 11:26:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 10 -- at Penn State Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational (State College, Pa.), 10:45 a.m.
Live Results
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 26-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will open the competitive portion of its 2021 fall schedule in earnest this Friday (Sept. 10) as it heads to Penn State for its first race against outside competition and its first look at the course that will host October's Big Ten Championship meet.
One week after a controlled intrasquad race in the squad's debut at the Michigan Open, a contingent of 12 Wolverines will take on some of the best in the Big Ten and the surrounding region at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. The men will race 5.2 miles -- about a quarter-mile longer than a standard eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) competition -- over the grounds of Penn State's Blue and White Golf Courses at 10:45 a.m.
A women's race precedes the men's competition at 10 a.m.
Also in the competition -- which will serve as a preview for the conference championships to be hosted there on Friday, Oct. 29 -- will be the likes of host Penn State, Minnesota and Ohio State, as well as non-conference foes Georgetown and Syracuse.
Many of the top Wolverine finishers from the Michigan Open will be in action again, including the in-uniform debuts of winner Nick Foster and runner-up Oli Raimond. Joining them will be two-time cross country All-American Devin Meyrer, track All-American Christian Hubaker, track nationals qualifier Joost Plaetinck and top in-uniform Michigan Open finisher Colton Yesney.
Also slated to run are James Gedris, Michael Hancock, Cole Johnson, Joe Meyers, Jack Spamer and Zach Stewart.
The meet will mark the official Michigan cross country debuts for Raimond, Hancock, and Meyers.
Fans can follow the race as it happens via live results from Primetime Timing. Updates also will be posted to the official social media channels of the Michigan program.
Things to Know
• Led by newly appointed Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men will enter ranked No. 7 in the deep preseason Great Lakes Regional rankings and No. 26 in the National Coaches' Poll announced in late August by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
• At No. 26 nationally, the Wolverines enter the season ranked top-30 in the country for the 21st time in the past 23 years. Among Big Ten teams, Michigan is ranked fourth-best behind No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 16 Michigan State and No. 22 Indiana.
• In the season-opening Michigan Open, it was a battle between a pair of runners competing unattached in winner Nick Foster and Oli Raimond, who were separated by just a single second, 15:08.2 to 15:09.2. Colton Yesney, Devin Meyrer and Christian Hubaker followed closely behind to round out the top five in what was a controlled effort for the Wolverines.
• Two-time cross country All-American Devin Meyrer returns for a final season thanks to extra COVID-19 eligibility to lead a squad that also includes track All-Americans Christian Hubaker, Tom Brady and Tom Dodd; NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier Joost Plaetinck; and multiple-time Big Ten track medalist Nick Foster, among others.
• The Wolverines were shut out of the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2014 last winter in a season that was largely derailed by a department-wide shutdown as a result of COVID-19 precautions, and will look to return to November's national meet in Tallahassee, Fla., with only two returners -- Meyrer and Plaetinck -- from 2019's historic seventh-place scoring lineup
.• Since 2019, Meyrer has become a two-time cross country All-American, an indoor All-American at 5,000 meters, a multiple-time scorer on the track, and the school record-holder for the indoor 5,000 meters. Plaetinck, also returning for a final season with the extra eligibility bestowed by the NCAA, was the Big Ten bronze medalist in the steeplechase outdoors and made the national meet in the event.
• Devin Meyrer and Joost Plaetinck will be bolstered by a pair of second-team All-Americans from the 2021 track campaign in Tom Brady and Christian Hubaker. Brady earned his national honors indoors at 3,000 meters and followed with a Big Ten silver medal at 10,000 meters, while Hubaker had a breakthrough season that culminated in a 15th-place finish in the steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
• Tom Dodd made an immediate impact in the middle distances for the Wolverines in his first season at Michigan last year, earning first-team All-America honors in the mile indoors and making the national meet outdoors.
• Nick Foster was perhaps the Wolverines most consistent performer at the conference level during the 2021 track season, picking up a pair of medals along the way in the indoor mile (bronze) and outdoor 1,500 meters (silver) to go along with a seventh-place finish at 3,000 meters indoors.
• Oli Raimond will make his belated cross country debut for Michigan in 2021 after circumstances prevented him from racing the trails this past winter. On the track, he was a scorer at 5,000 meters and advanced to the NCAA East Prelims at 1,500 meters.
• The Wolverines will be looking for breakthrough seasons from a number of its less experienced cross country runners, including sub-9:00 steeplechasers Austin Remick and Jack Spamer, former Big Ten Indoor Championships scorer Will Landowne, Cole Johnson and James Gedris, among others.
Up Next
Friday, Oct. 1 -- at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), Noon
Players Mentioned
