Weekly Release #1
9/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Sept. 21 -- at Great American Festival (Rock Hill, S.C.), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29 -- at Roy Griak Invitational (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11 a.m. CDT
This Week
The University of Michigan men's cross country team will compete in its first scored meet of the season when it travels to Rock Hill, S.C., to compete at the Great American Cross Country Festival on Friday (Sept. 21, 7 p.m.). The meet, which will be hosted by Winthrop University, will take place right outside of Charlotte, N.C., on Winthrop Farm Meadows. Over 5,000 athletes and 700 teams, ranging from elementary age students to the collegiate level, will compete at the festival. Among the college teams competing along with No. 19 Michigan are No. 11 North Carolina State, Duke, South Carolina and Wake Forest.
Previous Meet Recap
The Wolverines' first meet of the year came at the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 4) on the Michigan Golf Course. Freshman Alan Webb (Reston, Va./South Lakes HS), who was running unattached, won the non-scoring meet by completing the 8,000-meter course in a time of 25:21. Following closely behind in second and third were senior All-Americans Mark Pilja (Naperville, Ill./North HS) and Mike Wisniewski (Temperance, Mich./Bedford HS), who finished with times of 25:32 and 25:46, respectively.
Wolverines Open Season Ranked No. 19
The University of Michigan men's cross country team will open its season on Friday ranked as the No. 19 team in the nation according to the MONDO rankings. Wisconsin (No. 6) and Indiana (No. 16) are the only Big Ten Conference schools ranked ahead of Michigan, while Minnesota is one spot behind the Wolverines at No. 20. Colorado, which earned 13 out of 16 first-place votes, sits on top of the poll, followed by Stanford, Arkansas, Providence and Notre Dame.
MONDO NCAA Division I Preseason Poll (9/6/01)
Rank, School Points 1. Colorado (13) 397 2. Stanford (3) 379 3. Arkansas 342 4. Providence 334 5. Notre Dame 327 6. Wisconsin 315 7. Villanova 289 8. Northern Arizona 253 9. Arizona 237 Georgetown 237 11. North Carolina State 216 12. William & Mary 200 13. Oregon 194 14. Iona 148 15. Brigham Young 145 16. Indiana 138 17. Portland 128 18. Weber State 115 19. Michigan 107 20. Minnesota 100 21. Arizona State 94 22. Alabama 92 23. Wake Forest 68 24. Air Force 59 25. Oklahoma State 56
Head Coach Ron Warhurst
Ron Warhurst (Western Michigan '66) is in his 28th season as head coach of the Michigan men's cross country team. Through 27 years guiding the Wolverines, Warhurst has won six Big Ten Conference Championships (1974-75-76-80 (tie)-93-97-98) while also producing 11 teams that have finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. Overall, Warhurst has developed 18 NCAA All-America runners at Michigan, including eight-time All-American and three-time NCAA track champion John Scherer. He guided Kevin Sullivan to four NCAA track titles and 14 All-America runs in cross country and track, and developed top U-M runners Brian Diemer, the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, and 1983 Boston Marathon champion Greg Meyer.
Thanks for Waiting
Senior Mike Wisniewski will return to the Michigan cross country team this season after redshirting last year. Wisniewski sat out what would have been his final season of eligibility last year in order to strengthen the 2001 team. As a junior in 1999, Wisniewski earned All-America status by placing 32nd at the NCAA Championships (31:11.90) and made the All-Big Ten first-team by finishing fifth at the Big Ten Championships (25:30.29).
Dynamic Duo
Head coach Ron Warhurst will have two of the most decorated freshmen in the nation this season in Alan Webb and Nathan Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS). Webb, who won the non-scoring meet at the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 4) with a time of 25.21 over 8,000 meters, was the state of Virginia high school cross country champion in 1998, '99 and 2000 while also placing as the runner-up in the 2000 Foot Locker meet. This will mark the third time Webb has competed at the Great American Shootout, as he captured the high school titles in 1999 and 2000.
Brennan, who did not compete at the Wolverine Invitational, placed fourth at the Canadian Olympic Trials in 2000 and was 28th at the World Cross Country Championships.
Other runners who will be competing in their first scoring meet on Friday (Sept. 21) will be freshmen Tarn Leach (East Jordan, Mich./East Jordan HS) and Jason Stover (Williamston, Mich./Williamston HS), and redshirt freshman Brian Turner (Omaha, Neb./Millard North HS).
Two All-Americans Are Better Than One
The Wolverines will open the 2001 campaign with two All-Americans on the roster in seniors Mark Pilja and Mike Wisniewski. Pilja captured the honor last season when he placed 17th at the NCAA Nationals (30:48.5) while Wisniewski earned All-America status in 1999 by finishing 32nd at the national meet (31:11.90). Since 1992, the Michigan men's cross country team has had at least two All-Americans on five different teams while also placing a member on the All-America team every year in that time except for 1996.
Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
