ROCHESTER, Mich. – Michigan placed four in the top 22 out of the 231 women running at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional race on Saturday.

The No. 18 Michigan women’s cross country team had a strong all-around effort at the event, the Wolverines secured an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships and four runners earned All-Great Lakes accolades.

"It’s just a good feeling that we got up on the stand as an automatic team,” Michigan coach Mike McGuire said. “There's no waiting for phone calls from the committee tomorrow. We put a lot of effort into putting ourselves in that position, so we're pretty proud of that."

The Wolverines ended the 6,000-meter race with 96 points, finishing behind Michigan State by less fewer than 20 points for the second consecutive race.

Senior Danielle Tauro, the team’s consistent pacesetter, remained in the top 10 throughout the race, stepping off the fast pace set by a trio of runners, including first-place winner Emily McLeod of Michigan State.

After about 2,000 meters, Tauro fell back a few spots, eventually regaining her top-10 position during the last straightaway. As Tauro worked her way back up to the front pack during the last 1,000 meters, her teammate, sophomore Jillian Smith, worked her way up through the second chase pack, catching Tauro just before the finish line.

Smith, who typically finishes around 20 seconds behind Tauro, closed the spread to just over one second.

“I saw that it was the last 1,000 and I was trying to get to her,” Smith said. “It was just nice having someone familiar running right ahead of you, from doing workouts together. It is just so much easier, mentally, to think ‘OK, get to my teammate, she needs just as much help as I do.' ”

The two took the one-two position for the Wolverines. Tauro clinched ninth place with a time of 20:50.1 and Smith came in 10th with a time of 20:51.5.

“As I was coming around the final corner I could hear ‘Come on Jill!’ ” Tauro said. “I felt so relieved; I knew we had to bring this in together. I was hurting pretty bad, but knowing that my teammate was there helped me know I could finish strong.”

Tauro and Smith, former high school teammates, have been setting Michigan's pace all season, taking first and second position in every scoring event this season.

“I was so happy to see that Jill also won that race into the finish,” Tauro said. “When I turned and looked back it reminded me of high school when we used to go one-two.”

Three other Wolverines finished in scoring position, helping secure Michigan’s second place finish. Sophomore Rebecca Addison completed the race just behind the second chase pack, earning 17th place with a time of 21:09.8, followed by sophomore Kaitlyn Patterson in 22nd place (21:23.7).

After taking Monday off to rest, the team will return to practice, preparing for the NCAA championships in Terre Haute, Ind. next Monday.

“I’m just so grateful,” Tauro said of Michigan’s automatic bid to the NCAA championship. “I felt like I had an off day, so I was really thankful that all of my teammates ran so strong and stepped up.”