THIS WEEK
Friday, Oct. 22 -- at Eastern Michigan Fall Classic (Dexter, Mich.), 4 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Select members of the national No. 15-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will close out the 2021 regular season at the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic on Friday (Oct. 22) at Hudson Mills Metropark in nearby Dexter, Mich.

With the Big Ten Championships scheduled exactly one week after Friday's race in Dexter, the Wolverines' top lineup will not compete in the five-kilometer (3.11-mile) race that is set for a 4 p.m. start. Instead, they will prepare to bring home from Penn State on Oct. 29 the team's first conference title since 2018 and its fourth in the past six seasons.

Donning the block M for the Wolverines with a chance to be included in the Wolverines' expanded roster for the conference meet this Friday will be John Florence, James Gedris, Michael Hancock, Cole Johnson, Will Landowne, Joe Meyers, Thomas Shilgalis, Derrick Simmons and Jack Spamer.

There is no event-specific admission cost, but all spectators will be subject to a $10-per-vehicle daily entry fee levied by Huron-Clinton Metroparks.

Things to Know

• Led by newly appointed Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Kevin Sullivan, the U-M men will enter this weekend ranked No. 2 in the deep Great Lakes Regional rankings and No. 15 in the National Coaches' Poll announced earlier this week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

• Among Big Ten teams, Michigan is ranked second-best behind No. 10 Wisconsin, and ahead of No. 29 Minnesota.

• The Wolverines were shut out of the NCAA Championships lst winter for the first time since 2014 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 -- Devin Meyrer and Joost Plaetinck -- from 2019's historic seventh-place scoring lineup.

• The Wolverines continue to outperform their national rank, most recently finishing eighth overall in a deep Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational race last Friday (Oct. 15) after entering as the 10th-ranked team in the field. The Wolverines were one of just three squads with six top-90 finishers, and their 21.2-second time spread between No. 1 runner Tom Dodd and No. 5 runner Oli Raimond was just 21.2 seconds, the second best in the field.

• The Wolverines also were strong in the closing stages of the race, moving from 17th at the 2K split to 13th at 4K and 11th at 6K. Much of that upward push in the standings was powered by the trio of Joost Plaetinck, Oli Raimond and Zach Stewart, who combined to gain 111 spots in the final four kilometers of the race. Additionally, Nos. 6 and 7 runners Colton Yesney and Nick Foster combined to gain an additional 103 spots during that time.

• As has been the Wolverines' hallmark in recent years, they have stuck together well and run as a largely cohesive unit. In their three intersquad races this year at Penn State, Notre Dame and Wisconsin, they have averaged a 1-5 time spread of 19.47 seconds and a 1-7 spread of 31.57 seconds -- which only three other teams in the deep Wisconsin field managed for even their 1-5 runners.

Up Next

Friday, Oct. 29 -- at Big Ten Championships (State College, Pa.), 10:45 a.m.