Even though the NCAA Cross Country Championships are still months away, the Michigan men’s cross country team got a sneak preview of the national scene Saturday at the Virginia Invitational.
With high-level teams like Northern Arizona, BYU and North Carolina sitting atop the team standings, the Wolverines have struggled to find their feet. Michigan’s 14th-place finish puts them behind where they want to be.
“Our goal is to finish in the top 10,” Michigan coach Kevin Sullivan said. “I think it’s going to be a very positive result and we’ll probably be happy to go home (as a team) in 12th or higher. “We just exceeded our expectations a little bit. “
The Wolverines were led by two standout performances from graduates Tom Brady and Nick Foster. Brady was Michigan’s top runner in 28th place with a time of 23:45.4, followed by Foster in 32nd place with a time of 23:49.2. Two outstanding performances set the benchmark for the two athletes in national competitions and previewed the course of the national championships.
“It’s great to have such a deep roster early in the season,” Brady said. “This is a really good preview for the nationals. This will be the national (championship) course, probably half the nationals field.”
This display of national talent is what Brady, Foster and Michigan’s next closer, sophomore Luke Venhuizen, have faced in previous years. All three competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall, a race that set the stage for their championship run this year.
Although Venhuizen finished third for the Wolverines, he finished 81st overall with a time of 24 minutes, 15.9 seconds. The next finishers came together in 102nd and 103rd places – sophomore Caleb Jarema and junior Michael Hancock, respectively – with the same time of 24 minutes and 27.9 seconds. They worked together throughout the tournament to finish in the top five in Michigan.
However, the disparity between the Wolverines’ results didn’t help the team’s scoring. Finishing 14th out of the 23 participating teams was not the outcome it wanted, even in the face of injuries.
“We were missing something,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got a couple of players coming off injuries and we’ve had some ailments in the team. “We’re happy that we have at least three or four potential top-nine players. “
The Wolverines are looking forward to this uncontrollable variable being resolved, but for those who are still healthy enough to practice, training continues on to the next game.
With the team underperforming, Brady’s game mentality is still coming into play, and his goals for the upcoming games go beyond physical training.
“When I have to make a move late in the game,” Brady said, “I just want to put my heart and soul into it, feel like I finished the game in a competitive position and feel satisfied at the end of the game.”
As Michigan’s No. 1 pick at the Virginia Invitational, Brady has managed to instill that confidence into his game strategy, which could affect his fellow Wolverines’ competitive confidence — especially given the depth of this year’s team. Deep potential.
Michigan State hopes to have a full roster with the team heading to the Natickom Invitational in Wisconsin in less than three weeks. As another competitive game, Nuttycombe will provide the Wolverines with another preview of a potential national field.
Until then, Michigan plans to take the lessons learned as a team at the Virginia Invitational and use them to prepare for the start of the championship season. There, the Wolverines will look to improve by closing the gap between the top five finishers.