Weekly Release #7
11/9/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Saturday, Nov. 13 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.), 11 a.m.
Monday, Nov. 22 -- at NCAA Championship (Bloomington, Ind.)
Up Next for Michigan
The Wolverine women's cross country team will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., this weekend for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The women's 5,000-meter race will start at noon EST Saturday (Nov. 13) on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The women's course record is held by former Wolverine Katie McGregor with a time of 17:02. This year's regional features four ranked women's teams: No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 15 Michigan, No. 16 Minnesota and No. 19 Michigan State.
The Michigan women finished second overall at the 1998 Great Lakes Regional, and the Wolverines return three of their top returning scorers. Elizabeth Kampfe (Decatur, Ill./MacArthur HS) finished seventh, Lisa Ouellet (Sudbury, Ontario/Lasalle SS) came in at 17th with Katie Clifford (Grand Rapids, Mich/West Catholic HS) 19th.
Women Ready to Continue Postseason at Great Lakes Regional
After surprising many by finishing second at the Big Ten Conference Championship (Oct. 30) in State College, Pa., the Michigan women's cross country team is heading further into the postseason on a positive note. The Wolverines were able to upset then No. 17 Minnesota and No. 18 Michigan State at the Big Ten meet to finish second behind powerful Wisconsin, which will again be favored at the regional.
"We definitely would like to be in the top two so we aren't waiting for the (NCAA) committee to call us on Monday after the race," said head coach Mike McGuire.
Even with persistent shin problems, Elizabeth Kampfe ran her toughest race all season at the Big Ten Championship and was able to score for the Wolverines. She sees the team's potential to further its success. "Obviously, the goal is to be top two," said Kampfe. "That's the goal. In order to do that we have to beat Michigan State. I know Michigan State is really going to be coming after us."
The Wolverine women have remained competitive despite past performances, and are looking forward to their performance at regionals.
"I'm really excited about [regionals]," said Lisa Ouellet. "It just seems that we're rounding into form and we're getting everything back together. We can only do better than we did this weekend."
If the Wolverines are able to meet their goal of finishing second in the Great Lakes Region, it will mark the 16th consecutive year Michigan has finished in the top five.
Michigan Notables
-- Lisa Ouellet made All-Big Ten First Team with her seventh-place finish. Katie Clifford and Elizabeth Kampfe earned Second Team honors with their finishes of 12th and 14th, respectively.
-- Ouellet is still finishing on top. For the sixth consecutive race, Ouellet was the Wolverines' top finisher, placing seventh at the Big Ten Championship.
-- All of the Wolverine women who ran in the Big Ten Championship posted season-best times. Plagued with health problems all season, Kampfe and Erin White (Battle Creek, Mich./Central HS) ran their best race all season. Kampfe finished with a time of 17:45 for the 14th-place finish. White posted a time of 18:21.89 with a 36th-place finish.
Wolverines Move Back into National Poll
After a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Conference Championship, the Wolverine women broke into the NCAA Division I poll for the first time since the preseason. Three other Big Ten teams -- No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 16 Minnesota and No. 19 Michigan State -- are ranked among the top 25 squads.
FinishLynx Women's Cross Country Rankings (11/1/99)
Team Reg. Pts LW 1. Stanford (11) W 299 1 2. Arkansas (1) SC 288 2 3. Brigham Young MT 276 3 4. Colorado MT 262 4 5. Wisconsin GL 253 5 6. Georgetown MA 229 8 7. Kansas State MW 224 7 8. North Carolina SE 217 6 9. Arizona State W 208 11 10. Washington W 199 9 11. North Carolina State SE 174 10 12. James Madison SE 168 NR 13. William & Mary SE 157 12 14. UCLA W 142 14 15. MICHIGAN GL 128 NR 16. Minnesota MW 118 17 17. Providence NE 107 21 18. Boston University NE 98 13 19. Michigan State GL 84 18 20. Northern Arizona MT 77 20 21. Missouri MW 54 24 22. Villanova MA 43 NR 23. Nebraska MW 38 25 24. Arizona W 20 NR 25. Oregon W 16 23
NE = Northeast, MA = Mid-Atlantic, SE = Southeast, GL = Great Lakes,
MW = Midwest, SC = South Central, MT = Mountain, W = West, S = South
Contact: Adrienne Gutierrez (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
