Women's Cross Country Looking to Defend Big Ten Title

This upcoming Sunday, October 29th, the Michigan cross country teams will head south to Bloomington, Indiana to compete in the Big Ten Cross Country Championships. Michigan will compete for the crown against thirteen other Big Ten Programs. The women’s team is coming off of the best year in program history, with a National Runner-Up finish in 2016. The team is led by veteran head coach Mike McGuire, and co-captains, Jaimie Phelan and Gina Sereno. The wolverines started the year strong, ranked third in the country in the preseason National Coaches’ Poll announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. They have maintained this standing by winning their first two meets in dominating fashion.

Last year, the Michigan women edged out Penn State for the team title, winning 63-70. This year, eight of the nine championship runners from the 2016 team will return to retain their title. These runners include Gina Sereno, Avery Evenson, Jaimie Phelan, Jamie Morissey, Madeline Trevisan, Claire Borchers, Hannah Meier, and Sarah Zieve. Additionally, Michigan will look to Junior transfer from Georgetown University, Audrey Belf, to make an immediate impact in her debut season representing the maize and blue.

The race will be contested over six-kilometers (3.73 miles) over the hills of Indiana University’s cross country course. Follow @umichtrack on Twitter and Instagram for live updates from the race, and to support the Wolverines in pursuit of their second straight Big Ten XC title.

 

-Contributed by Sylvie Evarts, Neighborhood Ambassador-Tappan