For the 2018 Michigan women’s team, the recipe for success has been a little bit of everything. 

Their top seven features women who have been on campus for six years, key transfers, and freshmen in their first semester in Ann Arbor. It includes athletes who specialize in the mile, steeplechase, the triathlon and everything in between. 

Despite this hodgepodge roster, or perhaps because of it, the Michigan women are in position to win their third Big Ten championship in a row on Sunday in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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Thus far, the seventh-ranked Wolverines have been led by Avery Evenson, who epitomizes the eclectic Michigan squad. Evenson focused on triathlon out of high school before finding her way to Michigan’s cross country team. Now in her sixth year, she still balances training for both sports (she placed second at the World University Championships in September) and has been Michigan’s top runner in the last two races. 

At Pre-Nationals, she took eighth, helping Michigan to a second-place finish in the team race. Behind her in Madison was Hannah Meier, the highly touted former prep star, who's also in her sixth year. Meier was 12th at Pre-Nationals—perhaps the best result of her college cross country career. 

Steeplechase All-American Claire Borchers finished as Michigan’s third runner in that race, just over 10 seconds ahead of freshmen Camille Davre and Jesse Larsen. Their 1-5 spread at Pre-Nationals was was one the tightest in the meet, and that depth will help them against a balanced field that features six ranked teams, the most of any conference in the nation. 

Wisconsin (No. 15), with Alicia Monson up front, placed sixth at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Two weeks later, Monson ran with her teammates at Pre-Nationals, which prevented us from getting a clear picture of where Wisconsin would have finished in that meet. 

Nonetheless, Monson is the favorite to win the team race, and her low score could pull the Badgers into contention. Based off her win at Nuttycombe, Monson has to be considered the favorite. She'll be challenged by Evenson and Northwestern’s Aubrey Roberts (who was third in her race at Pre-Nationals), but she won’t have to face the caliber of runners she beat at the end of September. 

Michigan State was eighth at Nuttycombe, and they're projected to take second behind Michigan on Sunday. The Spartans (No. 12) have a strong top three in Maggie Farrell, Erin McDonald and Annie Fuller. Penn State (No. 11) beat a McDonald-less Michigan State team to win the Penn State Open two weeks ago. Julia Paternain, just a freshman, won that race ahead of Farrell and Fuller. 

Indiana (No. 9) placed third in their race at Pre-Nationals and has a proven top two in Katherine Receveur and Margaret Allen. Receveur is the reigning Big Ten champion in cross country, the indoor 5000m, the indoor 3000m and the outdoor 5000m. She hasn’t hit a big one yet this season, but always seems to run well when it counts. 

Minnesota (No. 19) hasn’t shown the depth yet of the top teams, but has consistent top performers in Bethany and Megan Hasz. Bethany was spectacular at Pre-Nationals, taking fifth place while Megan was just 13 seconds back in 14th. 

Potent Duo Leads Wisconsin Men

The men’s race doesn’t figure to be as close as the women’s, with Wisconsin entering as a big favorite to win another Big Ten title. The Badgers are led by Morgan McDonald and Oliver Hoare, the last two individual champions of this meet. Sunday will be the first opportunity to see both since their impressive showing at home at the Nuttycombe Invitational. 

There, McDonald won his first cross country race in almost two years, while Hoare (the 2018 NCAA 1500m champion) placed 15th. Those performances carried Wisconsin to a second-place team finish in the meet and vaulted them into the podium conversation for the NCAA Championships on their home course. 

But before the big dance rolls around, they will look to grab the conference championship back from Michigan, who won in 2017 despite Hoare’s individual victory. 

Aside from McDonald and Hoare, Wisconsin has one of the nation’s top No. 3 runners in Olin Hacker. The sophomore was 19th at Nuttycombe, and like the rest of Wisconsin’s top five, didn’t race at Pre-Nationals. 

Purdue looks like the only team other than Wisconsin with the ability to put three runners in the top 10. Their best runner, Jaret Carpenter, was 16th at the Nuttycombe Invitational and ninth in his race at Pre-Nationals. Though it will be tough to break up the McDonald/Hoare duo up front, Carpenter is the best candidate for the job. The Boilermaker sophomore tandem of Brody Smith and Curt Eckstein ran well in the second and third spots at the Nuttycombe and Pre-Nationals meets. 

Indiana was 13th at Nuttycombe, and is projected to finish third, just ahead of Michigan State and Michigan. Indiana’s Kyle Mau has looked solid in his three races this year and will give the Hoosiers a low scorer. 

Nebraska’s George Kusche made a few appearances in the lead pack at Pre-Nationals (he ultimately finished 24th) and looks like the top freshman in the field.