Weekly Release #7

Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, Nov. 2 -- at Big Ten Championships (East Lansing, Mich.), 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 15 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.), 11 a.m.

Michigan Prepares for the Postseason
The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will look to compete for the conference title when it heads to East Lansing, Mich., for the 2003 Big Ten Conference Championships on Sunday (Nov. 2). Hosted by Michigan State University, the 8,000-meter men's race is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m. at Forest Akers Golf Course.

Big Ten Championships Lineup

Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS)
Andrew Ellerton (Windsor, Onatario/Confederation HS)
Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS)
Tarn Leach (East Jordan, Mich./East Jordan HS)
Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS)
Sean Moore (Saline, Mich./Saline HS)
David Sage (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS)
Nick Stanko (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt HS)
Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS)

Michigan at the Big Ten Championships
The Wolverines have claimed nine conference titles dating back to 1922. Since 1990, Michigan and the University of Wisconsin have dominated the Big Ten Championships. In that time, Wisconsin has captured nine conference titles while the Wolverines won three in 1993, '97 and '98. Only twice in the last 13 years has the pair of schools not finished one and two at the Big Ten Championships -- 2001, when the Wolverines finished seventh in Madison, Wis., and last season when U-M finished third, one point shy of second place.

Last Year at the Big Ten Championships
Michigan claimed third place at the 2002 Big Ten Championships, held on Nov. 2 in West Lafayette, Ind. Scoring 80 points in the team battle, the Wolverines were only one point shy of runner-up Ohio State (79 points). Wisconsin won the team title for the fourth consecutive year, with 25 points. U-M was led by two first-team All-Big Ten performers in sophomore Nate Brannen and freshman Nick Willis. Brannen placed third with a personal-best time of 24:06.1, while Willis also posted a career-best time (24:15.7) with his seventh-place finish. Tom Greenless, Ryan Hesselink and Sean Moore also were scoring runners for the Maize and Blue.

Wolverines Wrap Up Regular Season at EMU Classic
Michigan sent seven runners across town to the non-scoring EMU Classic on Friday (Oct. 24) for the 2003 regular-season finale. U-M boasted two top-10 finishers among the 80-man field. Fifth-year senior Ryan Hesselink paced the Wolverines with an eighth-place finish, his second top-10 performance of the season, registering a season-best time of 25:34. Sophomore/freshman Andrew Bauer (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) finished several paces later, collecting 10th place with a time of 25:41. Sophomore/freshman Dan Murray (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice HS), freshman Ethan Brown (Lowell, Mass./Lowell HS) and sophomore/freshman Todd Iacovelli (Kailua, Hawaii/Punahou HS) also placed within the top 20, finishing 13th, 16th and 17th, respectively.

I've Seen You Here Before
Seven of the nine runners heading to the Big Ten Championships this weekend have previous experience running in the conference meet. Senior Tom Greenless has the most experience with three previous appearances, seniors David Sage and Nick Stanko and juniors Nate Brannen and Tarn Leach each have two appearances, while junior Sean Moore and sophomore Nick Willis have competed once. Only fifth-year senior Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS) and sophomore/freshman Andrew Ellerton (Windsor, Ontario/Confederation HS), both newcomers to this season's squad, have not competed at the Big Ten Championships.

Saving the Best for Last
Michigan runners typically run their fastest 8,000-meter time of the season at the Big Ten Championships, which is the final 8,000-meter race every season. Last year, five Wolverines -- Nate Brannen, Tom Greenless, Ryan Hesselink, Sean Moore and Nick Willis -- each shaved time off their season-best mark to lead Michigan to third place.

Big Ten Honors
Fifth-year senior Ryan Hesselink (Freeport, Mich./Thornapple-Kellogg HS) was named Big Ten Athlete of the Week following his eighth-place performance at the EMU Classic (Oct. 24). Hesselink clocked a season-best time of 25:34 to register his second top-10 finish of the season. Michigan runners have earned conference weekly honors three times in the last four weeks and a total of four time this season, the most ever for the Wolverines in one season. Sophomore Nick Willis was named Big Ten co-Athlete of the Week twice within a three-week span after taking seventh at the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 18) and second at the Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 3). Senior Tom Greenless also earned the recognition for the week of Sept. 24 after his first-place finish at the Spartan Invitational (Sept. 19). Since 1999, seven different Michigan runners have earned a combined 12 Big Ten weekly honors.

In the Polls
No poll was released this week (Oct. 28). In the most recent MONDO rankings (Oct. 21), Michigan moved up seven positions into the sixth spot after capturing third place at the NCAA Pre-Nationals.

MONDO Collegiate Cross Country Poll (10/21/03)

 Rank Rank Rank, Team (first place votes) Region Points 10/14 10/7 1. Stanford (15) W 479 1 1 2. Wisconsin (1) GL 464 2 2 3. Iona NE 432 10 10 4. Colorado M 431 5 5 5. Northern Arizona M 425 3 3 6. MICHIGAN GL 397 13 12 7. Ohio State GL 375 11 11 8. Arkansas SC 345 8 9 9. Air Force M 340 -- -- 10. Colorado State M 329 9 8 11. Villanova MA 313 18 19 12. BYU M 300 4 4 13. Georgetown MA 297 14 14 14. Arizona W 270 19 20 15. Arizona State W 269 12 13 16. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo W 237 24 25 17. North Carolina State SE 227 21 22 18. Oregon W 216 7 7 19. Indiana GL 173 25 24 20. Providence NE 166 17 18 21. Georgia S 158 20 17 22. Central Michigan GL 134 6 6 23. Florida State S 131 -- -- 24. Notre Dame GL 129 15 16 25. Texas A&M SC 83 27 27 26. Miami (Ohio) GL 67 -- -- 27. Washington W 48 -- -- 28. Kansas MW 42 -- -- 29. William & Mary SE 31 22 23 30. Iowa MW 29 -- --

On the Horizon
After a two-week hiatus, the Wolverines will continue their postseason schedule on Saturday, Nov. 15 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Terre Haute, Ind. Hosted by Indiana State University, the 10,000-meter race is slated to begin at 11 a.m. at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Family Sports Center.

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423