Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #4 Michigan Women

Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #4 Michigan Women

Check out the Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown where FloTrack ranks the top 31 cross country teams in the NCAA this season. The No. 4 spot goes to Michigan this y

Aug 26, 2016 by Meg Bellino
Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #4 Michigan Women
Check out the Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown where FloTrack ranks the top 31 cross country teams in the NCAA this season. The No. 4 spot goes to Michigan this year, and here's why:

Probable Top Five:
SR Erin Finn (15:26 5K; 31:51 10K; 2nd at '16 NCAA Indoor 3K/5K; 19th at '15 NCAA XC)
JR Gina Sereno (16:08 5K; 33:35 10K; 90th at '15 NCAA XC)
JR Jaime Phelan (4:15 1500m; 9:29 3K; 8th at '16 NCAA 1500m; 100th at '15 NCAA XC)
SO Claire Borchers (4:43 Mile; 10:08 3K SC)
JR Sophie Linn (16:47 5K; 145th at '15 NCAA XC)

Impact Freshmen/Transfers:
Kieran Gallagher via Harvard (4:27 1500)
Maddy Trevisan via Farmington, MI (10:35 3200; 16:54 5K)

Analysis:
Mike McGuire's Wolverines are coming off a sixth-place* NCAA finish led by senior star Erin Finn. Remarkably, Finn was a top-five contender before she lost both of her shoes to the Louisville terrain. Finn went on to challenge Molly Seidel at the NCAA indoor championships and record two runner-up finishes—imagine if she hadn't lost her shoes that day in Louisville!

The Wolverines had a guaranteed low-stick in Finn, and a majorly improved No. 2 athlete in Gina Sereno. With Finn redshirting the outdoor season, Sereno stepped up majorly to win two individual Big Ten titles in the 5K and 10K and qualify for the NCAA outdoor championships. Sereno was only 90th last fall, but after chopping one minute off her 10K PB from 2015 to 2016, she's poised for an All-American bid in Terre Haute.

Middle-distance specialist Jaime Phelan was 100th in Louisville, and finished eighth in the NCAA 1500m this spring. She has made big jumps each fall, and could definitely finish in the top 50. 

Junior Sophie Linn raced scarcely this spring, but had a great first fall for the Wolverines in 2015. She was 18th at the Big Ten championships, and 25th at the Great Lakes Regional before she finished 145th in Louisville. If she and sophomore Claire Borchers, who just missed qualifying for NCAA outdoors this spring with a 13th-place finish in the steeplechase, can step up in a big way, McGuire's Wolverines could have their first podium team since 2013.

*Tied with NC State with 264 points, but lost on the tiebreaker

Previously:
#5 New Mexico
#6 Oregon
#7 Oklahoma State
#8 Stanford
#9 Michigan State
#10 Boise State
#11 Notre Dame
#12 Arkansas
#13 Harvard
#14 Georgetown
#15 Washington
#16 Princeton
#17 Penn State
#18 Iowa State
#19 Syracuse
#20 San Francisco
#21 Kansas
#22 Weber State
#23 Cal
#24 North Carolina
#25 BYU
#26 Virginia
#27 Villanova
#28 Vanderbilt
#29 Texas
#30 Florida
#31 Minnesota