Women’s Cross Country to Host Big Ten Championships, Two More Home Meets

Women’s Cross Country to Host Big Ten Championships, Two More Home Meets

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the first time since 2008, the Big Ten Cross Country Championships will return to the campus of the University of Michigan, with the event serving as the highlight of a three-home-meet fall schedule for the Wolverine women announced Friday (July 8) by director of track and field/cross country Kevin Sullivan and head coach Mike McGuire.

The notoriously challenging terrain of the U-M Golf Course will be the setting for the conference championships on Oct. 28, in what will be the fourth running of the women’s meet hosted by the University of Michigan.

“I’m really excited for our women to have the opportunity to compete on a course that I had the great pleasure of competing on when I was in college,” said McGuire, who competed on the course during his Michigan career, including at the 1974 men’s cross country championships. “It’s a tremendous course, and I am happy that we have the opportunity to host Big Tens there after missing out on it a couple of years ago. This is something our student-athletes have had circled on their calendars for a while, and we’re excited to compete on a great course in front of our great fans and alumni.”

The U-M Golf Course has not hosted a cross country competition since the 2008 Big Ten Championships.

The 1985, 1998 and 2008 Big Ten Championships were run at the same venue that will be used this fall, which was originally adapted for cross country use by former men’s coach Ron Warhurst — who coached both McGuire and Sullivan — in 1974.

McGuire has won 12 Big Ten team titles at meets hosted on seven of the 14 conference campuses, but his teams have not yet claimed a title in Ann Arbor.

The road to Big Tens begins with back-to-back home meets on Sept. 2 and 9, as the Wolverines host the annual Michigan Open at Hudson Mills Metropark in neighboring Dexter and the Big Ten Preview at the U-M Golf Course, respectively.

The regular season features a national championships course preview at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree (Sept. 24), as well as a championships-level competition preview at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational (Oct. 14).

Michigan will have one final low-key tune-up opportunity…