Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Back-to-Back Big Ten Titles for the Wolverines
10/29/2017 2:43:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (IU Championship Cross Country Course)
Event: Big Ten Championships
U-M Team Finish: 1st place of 14 teams (55 points)
Top U-M Individual: Jamie Morrissey, 3rd (20:16.8)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 10 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For the first time in more than a decade, the University of Michigan women's cross country team claimed back-to-back Big Ten titles as the No. 10-ranked Wolverines emerged victorious at the conference championships on Sunday (Oct. 29).
Redshirt seniors Jamie Morrissey and Gina Sereno earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and the Wolverines' remaining scorers came through clutch to lead Michigan to a team score of 55 points, 31 points clear of runner-up Minnesota.
Michigan took the lead early and never wavered in its control of the six-kilometer (3.73-mile) race, clinching the team's first back-to-back team titles since a run of five in a row from 2002 through 2006 -- a streak that culminated on the same IU Championship Cross Country Course on which Sunday's race was contested.
The women's title followed a victory for the Michigan men in their race, marking the first time the Wolverines swept the conference team titles since 1993 -- women's head coach Mike McGuire's second year at the helm of the program and men's head coach Kevin Sullivan's freshman year running for the Maize and Blue.
Morrissey and Sereno crossed the line one after the other in third and fourth places, respectively. Morrissey moved up from seventh to third over the final two kilometers, crossing the line in 20:16.8. Sereno, after giving chase to eventual breakaway winner Katherine Receveur of Indiana for much of the race, took fourth in 20:22.2.
All-America redshirt junior Avery Evenson had her best race of the season to lead 15th-16th-17th-place finishes from herself, sophomore Madeline Trevisan and junior Claire Borchers. The trio crossed within a second of one another, Evenson in 20:47.5, Trevisan in 20:47.7 and Borchers in 20:48.5.
Both Evenson and Borchers rallied in the final kilometer to pick up five spots in the individual standings -- and shave off five valuable team points -- each.
Redshirt senior Haley Meier was 27th, redshirt senior Sophie Linn was 46th, redshirt senior Sarah Zieve was 55th, and junior Ellie Leonard was 64th to round out the Wolverines' lineup.
Paced by Morrissey's and Sereno's strong early running, the Wolverines crossed the first checkpoint at one kilometer narrowly trailing Penn State, 77-90.
By the time another kilometer passed, the Maize and Blue had claimed a lead they would never relinquish. A third of the way through the race, Michigan surged past Penn State, 62-88, behind big moves from Evenson, Trevisan and Borchers.
The margin remained the same for much of the remainder of the rest of the race. The Wolverines led Wisconsin, 65-93 at the halfway point; they still led the Badgers, 62-92, through 4K.
With a kilometer to go, Michigan held a 60-87 advantage over Wisconsin.
The postseason will continue for the Wolverines in two weekends when they return to the Hoosier state for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday, Nov. 10, in Terre Haute, Indiana. There, Michigan aims to qualify for its 16th straight NCAA Championships appearance -- the third-longest active streak in the nation.
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