Weekly Release #3

Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Sept. 17 -- at Spartan Invitational (East Lansing, Mich.), 2:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 1 -- at Notre Dame Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), 4:30 p.m. CDT

This Week: Spartan Invitational ...
Coming off a season-opening victory at the Indiana State Invitational, Michigan looks to continue its winning ways at the Spartan Invitational. Competing will be Michigan State, Bradley, Ferris State and Hillsdale. Michigan State is ranked No. 24 in the FinishLynx Ncaa Division I Women's Cross Country poll and should provide the biggest challenge for the Wolverines.

7th in the Preseason National Rankings ...
Michigan ranked seventh in the FinishLynx NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Poll with 316 points. Stanford is No. 1 with ten first place votes, while Providence ranks No. 2 with three first place votes. Brigham Young, Notre Dame, North Carolina State and Colorado round out the top six.

Upperclassmen lead at Indiana State Invitational ...
Michigan's upperclassmen dominated at the Indiana State Invitational, taking three of the top 4 spots in the race and four of the top 10 to win the meet by 16 points over nationally ranked Arkansas. Junior Rebecca Walter led the Maize and Blue with a second-place finish, while senior Sarah Pizzo took third and senior Andrea Parker captured fourth. All told, U-M placed seven athletes in the top 20 and 10 athletes in the top 30 (out of 80 entrants).

Walter is the Leader of the Pack ...
Junior Rebecca Walter led all U-M harriers in the Indiana State Invitational, making it the sixth-straight time that Walter has been the first Wolverine across the finish line in a scoring event, dating back to 2003. Walter was Michigan's top finisher at the 2003 Michigan Intercollegiate, the NCAA Pre-Nationals, the Big Ten Championships, the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and the NCAA Championships en route to Big Ten Athlete of the Year and All-American honors. The last time Walter did not place first for the Wolverines was September 27, 2003 at the Roy Griak Invitational when Jessie Allen-Young took top spot (with Walter coming second).

Walter has won WHAT! ...
Junior Rebecca Walter has been U-M's top finisher in 10 scoring meets in her career so far, leading the two-time Big Ten champions in four events in 2002, five events in 2003 and one event so far this season. In Walter's career, she has competed in 15 scoring events for U-M, leading all U-M harriers in two thirds of them.

Freshmen Shine at EMU Open ...
Michigan freshmen shined in the first event of the season at the EMU Open, placing three Wolverines in the top 10. Freshman Laura Glynn led the Maize and Blue with a fifth-place finish, while freshman Kalli Williams took sixth and sophomore Jentry Soule took eighth. Junior Emily Anderson came in 11th, while senior Erika Flannery placed 12th. Three U-M athletes competed as unattached runners, led by freshman Lisa Canty who won the event, leading the pack by 11 seconds. Freshman Natasha Luppov took seventh, while freshman Lisa Montgomery crossed the line 13th.

Returning Champions ...
The Wolverines return 16 letterwinners from last year's roster, including Big Ten individual champion and NCAA All-American Rebecca Walter, All-Big Ten first teamer Sarah Pizzo and All-Big Ten second teamer Katie Erdman.

She Keeps Going, and Going ...
2003 Big Ten individual champion and NCAA All-American Rebecca Walter led the Maize and Blue to the finish line in four meets last season, including all three postseason races. Walter placed first at the Big Ten Championhsips, third at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and 18th at the NCAA Championships. The 2002 Big Ten Freshman of Year, Walter led the Wolverines to the finish line in each of U-M's final three races in 2002, including a 51st-place showing at the NCAA Championships. At the 2002 Big Ten Championships, Walter helped the Wolverines to the conference crown as she crossed the line in fifth place, earning All-Big Ten first team honors.

2004 Team Captains Named ...
Head coach Mike McGuire has named junior Rebecca Walter and junior/sophomore Katie Erdman team captains for the 2004 season. Erdman earned All-Big Ten second team honors with a 14th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, while placing 24th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and 120th at the NCAA Championships.

The Mike McGuire File ...
Mike McGuire is in his 13th season as a head coach for the Michigan women's cross country team. McGuire led the Wolverines to their fifth Big Ten Conference team title in 2003 while earning his fifth Big Ten Coach of the Year award. In his first four seasons, McGuire won three consecutive Big Ten and NCAA District IV team championships, and the Wolverines finished as high as second (1994) at the NCAA Championships. McGuire's Michigan teams have 11 top-two finishes in 12 seasons at the Big Ten Championships and nine top-two finishes at the regional championships, winning the regional meet in 1993, '94 and '95. His teams have finished among the nation's top 10 six times at the NCAA Championships. McGuire has helped 49 cross country and track athletes earn All-American honors and has coached five Big Ten individual champions and five Big Ten freshmen of the year.

Michigan Cross Country Olympian ...
Former Wolverine cross country standout Courtney Babcock (1992, '94, '96) represented Canada in the 5,000- and 1,500-meter runs at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Babcock was a seven-time All-American in track and cross country at Michigan and was a member of U-M's 1994 NCAA champion distance medley relay team. She still holds the U-M school record for the indoor mile (4:39.31) set in 1994.

Who's Next ...
The Wolverines travel to South Bend, Ind. to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday, October 1 at 4:30 p.m. CDT.

Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423