By: Alex Hermann
Daily Sports Writer
Published November 1st, 2009
With a tremendous amount of youth on the roster, the Michigan women's cross country team's fourth-place finish with 122 points at the Big Ten Championships was a good enough effort for coach Mike McGuire.
More like this
“I thought realistically our goal was top five,” McGuire said. “I was happy with the fact that (for) seven out of our nine runners, it was their first Big Ten meet ever.”
Four true freshmen made the trip to State College. Freshmen Kaitlyn Patterson, Rebecca Addison and Jillian Smith posted three of the Wolverines’ top four times in an event where a team’s five best times count toward the team’s score.
“The kids stepped up to the challenge,” McGuire said. “I was definitely happy with their performances.”
But it wasn’t a standout freshman that led the Wolverines yesterday. Redshirt sophomore Kaitlyn Peale once again highlighted Michigan’s effort by posting the fourth-best time overall with a team-high 20:33.
Peale has placed in the top 10 in all five events this season and has set the pace for the Wolverines in their last three.
The fourth-place finish for No. 22 Michigan may serve as a positive indicator for the rest of the season. The NCAA Great Lakes Regional is less than two weeks away, and the Wolverines are the top-ranked team in the region. Big Ten foes Penn State, Illinois and Minnesota, who finished first through third in the Big Ten Championships, are all in separate regions.
“If we just hold serve and we’re first or second in the region, we qualify automatically to go the national meet, and that’s been one of our goals all year long,” McGuire said.
The Wolverines have 16 freshmen and redshirt freshmen on the roster — and just one senior. With such a young squad, the high rankings and expectations for this season are certainly impressive.
But the team’s prospects for the future are looking even brighter.
“We have people capable of working their way into being first-or second-team All-Big Ten,” McGuire said. “That’s our goal — continue and improve. We have the people here, and I think the future looks bright for us.”
