Weekly Release #7

Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 28 -- at Big Ten Championships (Savoy, Ill.), 10:45 a.m. CST
Saturday, Nov. 10 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.), Noon

This Week
After placing second at the Big Ten Conference Championships each of the last four years, the University of Michigan women's cross country team will try to win its first Big Ten Championship since 1994 when it travels to Savoy, Ill. The meet will cover 5,000 meters of the University of Illinois Blue and Orange Golf Courses and will begin at 10:45 a.m. CST.

Michigan's Lineup for the Big Ten Championships

   Katie Easton, So. (Fort Gratiot, Mich./Porth Huron North HS)
   Lindsey Gallo, So. (Freehold, N.J./Howell HS)
   Edna Kollarits, Fr. (Whitehouse, Ohio/Maumee Valley C.D.S.)
   Chelsea Loomis, Fr. (Traverse City, Mich./West HS)
   Andrea Parker, Fr. (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS)
   Sarah Pizzo, Fr. (Golden, Colo./Mullen HS)
   Katie Ryan, Sr. (Rochester Hill, Mich./Rochester Adams HS)
   Jeanne Spink, Jr. (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea HS)
   Rachel Sturtz, So. (Traverse City, Mich./Central HS)

Michigan at the Big Ten Championships
Michigan is the owner of three Big Ten championships, having reeled off titles in consecutive years from 1992 through 1994. Since that time the University of Wisconsin has gone on to win the last six conference championships. In that span, the Wolverines have been on the brink of their fourth title with four consecutive second-place finishes, including 1998 when they finished five points behind the Badgers.

Wolverine Interregional Recap
Sophomore Lindsey Gallo posted the fastest time on the U-M team for the fourth consecutive meet as she placed 10th with a time of 19:05 at the Wolverine Interregional (Oct. 14). Junior Jeanne Spink (15th) and sophomore Rachel Sturtz (16th) added top-20 finishes as the Wolverines tallied 92 points to finish behind No. 8-ranked North Carolina (26 points), No. 14 Wisconsin (47) and Purdue (65).

Head Coach Mike McGuire
After nine years as the head of the U-M women's cross country program, Mike McGuire not only has three team titles under his belt, but he has helped groom three different runners to individual titles at the Big Ten Championship. Katie McGregor pulled off back-to-back first-place finishes in 1997 and 1998 while Molly McClimon won the championship in 1993 and Deanna Arnill followed up the year after with a title. With his team's success, McGuire was named the conference Coach of the Year for 1992, '93, and '94.

Wanted: Big Ten Championships Experience
Michigan will head into the Big Ten Championships with a talented but inexperienced roster. Of last year's top seven scorers at the Big Ten Championships, only two return -- senior Katie Ryan and junior Jane Martineau. Ryan is the Wolverines' top returner with a 25th-place showing (18:06) last year at Madison, Wis., while Martineau placed 30th (18:12).

Get Used to It
Sophomore Lindsey Gallo will head into the Big Ten Championships as Michigan's most likely candidate for an individual title. In all four of the Wolverines' meets this year, Gallo has been the team's top finisher, including three finishes in the top 10. In Michigan's last meet, at the Wolverine Interregional (Oct. 14), Gallo ran the 5,000 meters of the U-M Golf Course in a time of 19:05, good for 10th place.

Right Back Where She Started
Sophomore Rachel Sturtz is finishing what she started. After placing 15th at the opening meet of the year at the Miami Invitational (Sept. 8) with a time of 19:23, Sturtz's times tailed off as did her standings in each race. However, at the Wolverine Interregional (Oct. 14), Sturtz bested her time at the Miami Invitational by one second. Her reward was a drop in the standings to 16th, but it marked her second top-20 finish of the year and her best time of the year came on a course that was slowed by rain and mud.

Running on All Cylinders
The Michigan team will be happy to have one of its top runners -- redshirt freshman Andrea Parker -- back for the Big Ten Championships. Parker missed the Wolverine Interregional (Oct. 14) with an injury, but she is expected to be at full strength in time for the conference championships. On the year, Parker has run 5,000 meters in every race while also running the 6,000 meter Iona Meet of Champions in 21:45.1. In her last meet, at the Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 5), Parker ran a personal best of 18:17.

Giant Steps
The runner who has possibly shown the biggest improvements for Michigan over the year is freshman Edna Kollarits. At the Wolverine Interregional, Kollarits cut 2:30.5 off her previous best time by finishing at 20:06. That time earned her 30th place while also placing among the top seven on the U-M team.

The Rankings
Two teams will head into the Big Ten Conference Championships with a national ranking in the top 25. Michigan State is the head of the class at sixth in the nation while Wisconsin is No. 14.

FinishLynx NCAA Division I Poll (10/15/01)

 Rank, School Points Prev 1. Stanford 324 2 2. Brigham Young 311 T4 3. Georgetown 299 11 4. North Carolina State 283 3 5. Boston College 260 6 6. Michigan State 256 13 7. Arizona State 242 T4 8. Providence 228 7 9. North Carolina 224 8 10. Colorado 220 1 11. Arizona 191 9 12. Arkansas 190 10 13. Washington 167 16 14. Wisconsin 147 14 15. Virginia 143 15 16. Villanova 127 NR 17. Northern Arizona 125 21 18. Colorado State 105 12 19. James Madison 86 23 20. Duke 74 NR 21. Yale 70 22 22. UCLA 54 18 23. Cornell 42 20 24. Marquette 33 19 25. Boston University 19 17

Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423