Michigan
Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational
Wolverine Women to Face Early Test at Penn State
9/8/2021 11:02:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 10 -- at Penn State Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational (State College, Pa.), 10 a.m.
Live Results
ANN ARBOR, Mich.-- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team will face its first test of the 2021 campaign this Friday (Sept. 10) as it travels to Penn State for a preview of the Big Ten Championships and its first race against outside competition.
With a restrained intrasquad race under its belt from the season-opening Michigan Open a week ago, a contingent of 10 Wolverines will square off with some of the best in the Big Ten and the surrounding areas at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. The starting gun fires at 10 a.m. for Michigan's six-kilometer (3.73-mile) race over the grounds of Penn State's Blue and White Golf Courses.
This will mark the first 6K race of the year for the Wolverine women, who also will race this distance throughout the postseason.
A men's race is slated to follow the women's competition at 10:45 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.
Michigan Open winner Katelynne Hart and runner-up Ericka VanderLende headline the Wolverines' roster, along with close third-place finisher Kayla Windemuller. In fact, each of the top eight finishers from last Friday will be in the lineup, including Alice Hill, Samantha Saenz, Anne Forsyth, Samantha Tran and Julia Vanitvelt. Also slated to run are Amber Gall and Lucy Petee.
The race can be followed 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 longtime women's head cross country coach Mike McGuire, the U-M women will enter ranked No. 2 in the deep preseason Great Lakes Regional rankings and No. 11 in the National Coaches' Poll announced Monday (Aug. 30) and Tuesday (Aug. 31), respectively, by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
• The Wolverines have claimed seven of the last nine regional titles and are in the midst of the third-longest active NCAA Championships qualifying streak in the nation at 19 years running.
• This marks the 19th consecutive year Michigan has earned a top-30 national rank to start the season. Of those 19 years, Michigan has gone on to outperform their preseason rank at the NCAA Championships in 10 of those seasons.
• In last Friday's season debut at the Michigan Open, it was a duel to the finish line between eventual winner Katelynne Hart and runner-up Ericka VanderLende. Hart edged VanderLende by just half a second, 17:11.9 to 17:12.4, followed seven seconds later by Kayla Windemuller.
• Ericka VanderLende returns for her junior year to once again lead the Wolverines, after finishing as an All-American in 2019 and 64th in last year's edition of the meet just days after earning second-team All-America honors over 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at 5,000 meters.
• VanderLende is one of three former Big Ten Cross Country Freshman of the Year winners on the roster, joining 2018 honoree Anne Forsyth and 2020 honoree Samantha Tran. Forsyth will look to reclaim the form she showed in a 46th-place NCAA Championships finish, while Tran will build on her 90th-place finish at last year's NCAA meet and her blistering fourth-place run in the Big Ten Outdoor 1,500-meter final.
• The Wolverines also will be looking for big things from its steeplechasing duo of Alice Hill and Kayla Windemuller. After finishing 189th and 152nd at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships, both women went on to break 10 minutes in the steeplechase in the spring, with Hill qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the event.
• In what will be her first proper fall cross country season at Michigan, former high school standout Katelynne Hart is poised to become a significant contributor for the Wolverines. The indoor distance medley relay All-American in 2021 went on to finish 18th in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds during the outdoor season.
• Michigan also welcomes Jessi Larson back to the trails in 2021 after missing the 2019 and 2020 seasons to injury. Larson was 99th for the Wolverines at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships. This past spring, she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships over 10,000 meters.
• The Wolverines will look for breakthrough seasons from mid-distance runners Amber Gall, Lauren Fulcher, Lucy Petee and Aurora Rynda, as well as NCAA East Prelims qualifier Samantha Saenz.
Up Next
Saturday, Oct. 2 -- at Greater Louisville Classic (Louisville, Ky.), 9:45 a.m.
Players Mentioned
