The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/848029
AUGUST 2017 THE WOLVERINE 27 BY JOHN BORTON M ike McGuire became im- bedded in the fabric of University of Michigan athletics 43 years ago, run- ning for longtime coach Ron War- hurst in the early 1970s. More than four decades later, McGuire keeps his women's cross country team among the nation's elite. The Wolverines raced nearly to the summit this past year, coming close enough to taste a national champi- onship. The fact that they fell one excruciating point shy of that title doesn't diminish an exceptional sea- son, or keep them from earning The Wolverine's female team of the year distinction. "It's bittersweet," McGuire said of the Wolverines' runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., in which they scored 126 points to Oregon's 125. "But it's kind of like you're in the greatest football game you've ever played and the extra point hit the upright at the end. It's that close." How close was it? For a few mo- ments, the Wolverines thought they'd made the extra point. "We actually won the raw score," McGuire recalled. "Usually, if you win the raw score, you're going to win the net score. We won the raw score by three, but you have the indi- viduals in the race change the team score. There were more individu- als that impacted Oregon's score to come down than impacted our score. "At the end, it wound up being a four-point swing … I'm getting texts from people: 'Hey, I think you did it.'" What they did involved record- ing Michigan's third top-five na- tional finish in the past five years, and matching the best effort ever at nationals by a U-M women's cross country team. A crew that won the Big Ten, in many ways, overachieved in the NCAA showdown. Senior Erin Finn expected to lead the way and didn't disappoint, fin- ishing as the national runner-up. Meanwhile, junior Avery Evenson nailed down 18th place, redshirt ju- nior Gina Sereno finished 30th, fresh- man Madeline Trevisan came in 46th DOWN TO THE WIRE Women's Cross Country Battles To The End At Nationals FEMALE TEAM OF THE YEAR WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY The women's cross country team and head coach Mike McGuire received a trio of top-30 finishes at the NCAA Championships and missed out on a national title by just one point. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS