A six-time All-American and Big Ten champion as a Wolverine distance runner, Dr. Lindsey Gallo returned to Ann Arbor this summer as an assistant professor in accounting at the Ross School of Business.

The top-ranked Wolverines will kick off the 2014 season by hosting the annual Michigan Open on Friday (Aug. 29) at Hudson Mills Metropark in a non-scoring 5K event.

Michigan received six of the available 12 first-place votes to be ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Division I National Cross Country Coaches' Preseason Poll for the first time in program history.

Last season's leaders Brook Handler and Taylor Pogue are joined by fifth-year seniors Alexandra Leptich and Megan Weschler to form U-M's 2014 captain group.

With the season just around the corner, the team headed to the U-M BioStation in Pellston, Mich., for a week of training and team bonding.

With nearly a full squad returning from last year's team that finished fourth at the NCAA Championships and first at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, U-M appears ready for another successful campaign in 2014.