Last Sunday, the Michigan women’s cross country team returned to Ann Arbor from a grueling week of camp. Less than 24 hours later, the Wolverines competed against Eastern Michigan for their first meet of the year in the 5,000-meter Michigan Open at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter.

But Michigan showed few signs of fatigue as eight runners finished in the top 10. Junior Danielle Tauro led the pack, finishing first with a time of 18:00.5. Tauro, who will be counted on as the Wolverines’ leader this year, said that it was more important for her team to gain experience than to finish with impressive times.

“This meet is definitely low-key,” Tauro said through the Athletic Department. “We got back yesterday, and then it was move-in. So with this meet, our top priority isn’t really to run fast, it’s more about getting a race under our belt before the big meets get going.”

Taura’s performance was closely followed by freshmen Jillian Smith (18:11.4) and Kaitlyn Patterson (18:11.8), who finished second and third, respectively. The freshmen will be a big part of Michigan’s success this year, since 16 of 27 athletes on the Wolverines' roster are freshmen.

Michigan Coach Mike McGuire was happy with his team’s performance, particularly the freshmen.

“We’ve got a good group,” he said. “We’re in a position this year where we’re going to need help from the freshmen. They’re definitely going to be called upon, and I think they’ll be equal to the challenge.”

It was a promising start for the Wolverines, who will look to build on that in preparation for the Spartan Invitational on Sept. 18.

“We’ve established the benchmark,” McGuire said, “and we’ve just got to get better from here.”