Weekly Release #8

Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Nov. 13 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 12:15 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 22 -- at NCAA Championships (Terre Haute, Ind.), 11 a.m.

This Week: NCAA Great Lakes Regional
The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will resume competition at the 2004 NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday (Nov. 13) in Ypsilanti, Mich. Hosted by Eastern Michigan University, the 10,000-meter men's race is slated to begin at 12:15 p.m. at the Eagle Crest Golf Course.

NCAA Great Lakes Regional Lineup

Andrew Bauer
Nate Brannen
Todd Iacovelli
Jonathan Kieliszak
Matt Mulvaney
Dan Murray
Mike Woods

Scouting the Field at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Thirty-one teams will compete at the 2004 NCAA Great Lakes Regional, including No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 10 Indiana as well as Big Ten rivals Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue. The top two teams and top four individuals who are not members of the top two teams (providing they finish in the top 25) will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. On Sunday (Nov. 14), the NCAA will select 13 at large teams and 2 at large individuals from the NCAAs nine regions. Thirty-one teams and 38 individuals will qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships. Meet Sites: NCAA | Eastern Michigan

Last Year at the NCAA Regional
Michigan earned an automatic ticket to the NCAA Championships by virtue of claiming second at last season's NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Terre Haute, Ind. With 76 points in team scoring, the Wolverines finished just four points shy of first-place Wisconsin. Michigan was the only team to put multiple placers in the top-10 with Nate Brannen, Nick Willis and Tom Greenless claiming fourth (30:43.2), sixth (30:46.5) and 10th (30:50), respectively. Also scoring for the Maize and Blue were seniors Nick Stanko in 17th place with a personal-best of 30:54.2 and Alex L'Heureux in 39th place at 31:23.1.

Recapping the Big Ten Championships
Senior captain Nate Brannen claimed fifth individually to lead the Wolverines to a fifth-place team performance (125 points) at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (Oct. 31) at Iowa's Ashton Cross Country Course. Wisconsin captured the team title for the fifth consecutive year with 23 points, while only 21 points separated the Wolverines from second-place Indiana. Also scoring for Michigan were Mike Woods (23rd, 24:54), Jonathan Kieliszak (30th, 25:05), Matt Mulvaney (31st, 25:05) and Andrew Bauer (36th, 25:11).

Following the Leader
Senior captain Nate Brannen has led Michigan across the finish line for six consecutive scored meets in which he participated, dating back to last season's Big Ten Championships. Brannen paced the Wolverines in each of the 2003 postseason meets -- claiming second at the Big Ten Championships, fourth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and 17th at the NCAA Championships en route to All-America honors -- and has been the top U-M finisher at this season's Great American Cross Country Festival, NCAA Pre-Nationals and Big Ten Championships with top-five performances in each event.

Brannen, Bauer Claim Big Ten Weekly Honors
Junior/sophomore Andrew Bauer (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) earned the final Big Ten Runner of the Week accolade of the season -- the first of his career -- to give the Wolverines three weekly honors during the 2004 campaign, more than any other school in the conference. Bauer earned the recognition following his runner-up performance at the EMU Classic. Senior captain Nate Brannen was named conference Runner of the Week twice during a in three week span in recognition of a runner-up performance at the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 16) and a fourth-place finish at the Great Lakes Invitational (Oct. 1). With three career Big Ten weekly honors, Brannen equals Mark Pilja (1998-2001) for the most in U-M men's cross country history.

Willis Named New Zealand's Top Middle Distance Runner
Junior Nick Willis was named Athletics New Zealand Middle Distance Runner of the Year at the organization annual awards banquet last Saturday (Oct. 16) in recognition of his performance 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
After a disappointing fifth-place performance at the Big Ten Championship, U-M dropped to the No. 23 spot in the most recent MONDO Collegiate Cross Country Poll, released Nov. 2. In the Great Lakes region, the Wolverines hold the fifth spot behind top-ranked Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Indiana and Butler.

MONDO Collegiate Cross Country Poll (11/2/04)

Rank, Team (first-place votes) Region Points Prev 1. Wisconsin (12) GL 417 1 2. Stanford W 400 2 3. Arkansas (2) SC 399 4 4. Colorado M 377 3 5. Notre Dame GL 365 5 6. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo W 343 6 7. Georgetown MA 342 7 8. Arizona State W 316 9 9. BYU M 303 10 10. Indiana GL 276 13 11. North Carolina State SE 273 16 12. Florida State S 247 11 13. Butler GL 245 14 14. Air Force M 241 12 15. Iona College NE 227 15 16. Providence NE 219 22 17. Iowa MW 155 30 18. Villanova MA 151 18 19. Texas SC 145 29 20. New Mexico M 133 23 21. Florida S 127 20 22. Minnesota MW 126 19 23. MICHIGAN GL 123 7 24. Colorado State M 102 17 25. Oklahoma State MW 91 21 26. Central Michigan GL 82 25 27. Oregon W 72 28 28. Northern Arizona M 57 24 29. Ohio State GL 32 -- 30. William & Mary SE 24 --

On the Horizon
The Wolverines will conclude the 2004 campaign at the NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 22, 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