Weekly Release #5
10/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 16 -- at NCAA Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.), 12:50 p.m. EST/CDT
Friday, Oct. 22 -- at EMU Classic (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 4 p.m.
This Week: NCAA Pre-Nationals
The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will send 12 runners to the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday (Oct. 16) in Terre Haute, Ind. Hosted by Indiana State at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, the 8,000-meter race will use the same route as will be used in the NCAA Championships in late November. Michigan will compete in the men's 8,000-meter white race, which is slated for a 12:50 p.m. EST start, and will run five individuals in the men's 8,000-meter open race at 2:05 p.m. Thirty-seven teams will compete in the white race, including No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 12 Villanova.
Last Year at the NCAA Pre-Nationals
All five of Michigan's five scored runners set new personal-best times at last season's NCAA Pre-Nationals to lead U-M to a third-place finish in the Purple division (148 points). Sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) paced the Wolverines with his third top-10 finish of the season, placing seventh at 23:37.0, 38 seconds quicker than his previous career high. Senior Tom Greenless and junior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) also scored top-20 finishes, placing 16th and 20th, respectively, with times of 23:54.9 and 23:58.2.
Recapping the Michigan Intercollegiate
Sophomore/freshman James Reichardt (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) (eighth, 12:05) led the six-man U-M contingent at the Michigan Intercollegiate as the Wolverines claimed fourth place in the 4,000-meter race with 54 points. Also scoring for Michigan were sophomore/freshman Brian Les (Elm Grove, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS), junior/sophomore Joe Schramski (Troy, Mich./Avondale HS) and sophomore/freshman Sebastien Lounis (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Seaholm HS), who placed 11th, 13th and 22nd, respectively. Les and Schramski ran together across the line, finishing just three seconds apart at 12:12 and 12:15 while Lounis registered a time of 12:20 in his U-M cross country debut.
Brannen Nets Big Ten Weekly Honor
Senior captain Nate Brannen was named Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Week in recognition of his third-place performance at the Great American Cross Country Festival. The weekly distinction is the first for the Wolverines this year and the second for Brannen during his four seasons at Michigan. He shared the honor with Indiana's Sean Jefferson on Oct. 8, 2002, after pacing the Maize and Blue at the Notre Dame Invitational with a seventh-place performance.
From Athens to Ann Arbor
Junior Nick Willis returns to the U-M lineup after representing New Zealand in the 1,500-meter run at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Willis just narrowly missed advancing to the final, placing sixth in the slower of the two heats with a time of 3:41.46, just 0.19 seconds out of the final automatic spot. In the first round, Willis outkicked five opponents down the final stretch to register a time of 3:39.80, automatically qualifying for the semifinals with a third-place finish.
In the Polls
The Wolverines retained its position at the No. 5 spot in the most recent MONDO Collegiate Cross Country Poll, released Oct. 12. In the Great Lakes region, the Wolverines hold the second spot behind top-ranked Wisconsin.
MONDO Collegiate Cross Country Poll (10/12/04)
Rank, Team (first-place votes) Region Points Prev 1. Wisconsin (14) GL 420 1 2. Stanford W 405 2 3. Arkansas SC 385 3 4. Iona College NE 381 4 5. Michigan GL 356 5 6. Colorado M 339 6 7. Georgetown MA 338 7 8. North Carolina State SE 318 8 9. Notre Dame GL 301 9 10. Butler GL 270 10 11. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo W 265 12 12. Villanova MA 254 11 13. Air Force M 253 13 14. BYU M 233 14 15. Arizona State W 184 15 Providence NE 184 16 Minnesota MW 184 17 18. Florida State S 164 18 19. Oklahoma State MW 150 20 20. Indiana GL 140 19 21. Colorado State M 131 21 22. William & Mary SE 112 22 23. Miami (Ohio) GL 106 22 24. Oregon W 85 25 25. Ohio State GL 81 24 26. Georgia S 65 27 27. Montana State M 61 26 28. Washington W 51 29 29. Central Michigan GL 50 28 30. Texas SC 37 --
On the Horizon
The Wolverines will compete in their final tune-up prior to the postseason next Friday, October 22, at the EMU Classic in Ann Arbor. The 8,000-meter race is slated for a 4 p.m. start at Buhr Park.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
