Led by senior Danielle Tauro, the Michigan women’s cross country team placed four runners in the top 10 at the non-scoring Spartan Invitational in East Lansing on Friday.

Michigan coach Mike McGuire was pleased with his team’s performance, noting that if the meet had been scored, they likely would have finished just a hair behind intrastate rival Michigan State for first place.

He singled out Tauro’s performance as impressive.

“I thought that Danielle is bouncing back off of a subpar spring, and I like where she’s at at this point.” McGuire said. “Her training is going great, she’s regaining her confidence and she’s fit, so I was very happy with her.”

Tauro was the lone Wolverine to place in the top five, coming in fifth with a personal best 20:58 in the 6,000-meter race, averaging about 5:36 per mile.

McGuire also praised sophomore Jill Smith’s race.

“That was a big step forward for her because Jill struggled with some calf issues last year in races where she’d cramp up and have to stop and stretch out," McGuire said. "But she had no issues with it today. We did some things over the summer addressing it with a podiatrist and some other things, so I think that she’s moving forward her. I thought without question that was her best cross country race.”

Redshirt junior Kaitlyn Peale also excelled for Michigan, finishing in seventh place with a time of 21:10.

The team’s time split between its first and fifth finishers was 33 seconds, only three seconds off of what McGuire noted should be their eventual goal.

“We just have to get it to 30 seconds,” McGuire said. “So everyone just has to move up a little bit. For where we’re at, at this time of the year, compared to this time last year, I’m happy with where we’re at.”

Michigan sits in 27th in the latest national rankings, but with just two non-scoring meets completed, there’s plenty of time for movement.

“I think we’ll get a better indication of where we’re at next meet,” McGuire said. “To be honest I don’t really follow the polls, but I know where we’re at. I know Michigan State is a few spots ahead of us, but when you’re in the twenties, there isn’t much of a difference between teams. I like our dynamics right now."

In total, 14 Wolverines competed as they continue to prepare for the first scored meet of the season at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on October 2 in Madison.