Weekly Release #8
11/9/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men'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 men's cross country team will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., this weekend for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The men's 10,000-meter race will start the event at 11 a.m. EST Saturday (Nov. 13) on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The men's course record was set last year by Julius Mwangi of Bulter University with a time of 30:20. This year's men's regional features three ranked teams: No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Michigan and No. 8 Notre Dame.
The Michigan men finished second overall at the 1998 Great Lakes Regional. Michigan's top returning scorers for the men include Jay Cantin (Camlachie, Ontario/St. Clair SS) in 12th place, Steve Lawrence (Consecon, Ontario/East Northumberland SS) who finished 13th and Mark Pilja (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North HS) in 29th place.
Men Look to Overthrow Badgers
Michigan ran its closest and hardest race all season at the Big Ten Championship (Oct. 30) in State College, Pa., but ultimately lost by two points, 40-38, to Wisconsin.
"There's always a little disappointment when you are close like that and you lose," said head coach Ron Warhurst. "It could have gone either way. If the course was a hundred yards longer we would have won. We were coming real strong at the end."
Two Wolverines who made the opposition take notice were Mark Pilja and Tom Caughlan (West Des Moines, Iowa/Mason City HS), who finished hard down the chute to catch two Badgers.
"I think they respect us a little bit more," said Jay Cantin of Wisconsin. "We gave them quite a scare last week. They will definitely be keeping their eyes on us."
The Wolverines have consistently improved week-by-week all season. Michigan is ready to face Wisconsin again in hopes of a Great Lakes Regional title. Its only title came in 1997 when captains Cantin and Steve Lawrence were sophomores.
Michigan Notables
-- Jay Cantin, Mike Wisniewski and Steve Lawrence earned All-Big Ten first team honors at the Big Ten Championship, finishing third, fifth and sixth, respectively. Mark Pilja earned All-Big Ten second team honors with his 11th-place finish.
-- Cantin continues to be the Wolverines' top finisher after finishing third overall at the Big Ten Championship with a time of 25:16.
-- Freshman Nick Stanko (Wyandotte, Mich./Rossevelt HS) was the only freshman to run at the Big Ten Championship and he finished 50th overall, crossing the finish line at 27:05. "I feel very privileged to be on such a great team," said Stanko. "It's really great that we took second. I thought that everyone did a great job individually. I just hope over the years that I can become as good as our top runners are."
-- The Wolverines continue to improve. At the Big Ten meet, the team's time split for the first through fifth runners was 41 seconds, the lowest it has been all season. The last time Michigan ran at the Blue and White Golf Courses was at the Spiked Shoe Invitational (Sept. 18) and the team's split was 1:06.
NCAA Cross Country Poll
The Michigan men's cross country team rose from No. 8 to No. 7 in the Nov. 2 NCAA Division I poll after finishing second behind Wisconsin at the Big Ten Championship. Michigan is the second highest rated Big Ten Conference team in the poll, trailing No. 6 Wisconsin. Minnesota rose to No. 19 after placing third at the championship.
MONDO Men's Cross Country Rankings (11/2/99)
Team Reg. Pts LW 1. Arkansas (16) SC 400 1 2. North Carolina State SE 380 3 3. Colorado MT 364 4 4. Arizona W 356 6 5. Stanford W 335 2 6. Wisconsin GL 339 5 7. MICHIGAN GL 300 8 8. Notre Dame GL 290 10 9. Georgetown MA 248 7 10. James Madison SE 246 11 11. Oregon W 234 12 12. Brigham Young MT 223 13 13. Villanova MA 196 14 14. Northern Arizona MT 191 16 15. Arizona State W 188 9 16. Weber State MT 148 16 17. William & Mary SE 131 19 18. Portland W 124 20 19. Minnesota MW 103 24 20. Providence NE 92 T25 21. Princeton MA 75 18 22. Tennessee S 67 23 23. Utah MT 54 15 24. Dartmouth NE 49 21 25. Southern Mississippi S 17 NR
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
