Weekly Release #5

Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Oct. 21 -- at EMU Classic (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 30 -- at Big Ten Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), 10:45 a.m. CST

This Week: EMU Classic ...
After winning their fourth title of the season at the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 15) the No. 3-ranked Wolverines will close out their regular season, as they travel across town to run in the EMU Classic which will be a non-scoring event, on Friday (Oct. 21) in Ann Arbor, Mich., at 4 p.m.

Last Time at the EMU Classic
Last year at the EMU Classic in a non-scoring event, Michigan placed four runners in the top 10, and two more runners in the top 15. The top U-M finisher was senior Chelsea Homan (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson), as she crossed the finish line in fourth place, with a time of 19:26. Also making top 10 finishes were redshirt sophomore Kalli Williams (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) coming in fifth (19:33), alumna Erika Flannery coming in eighth (20:02), and redshirt junior Jentry Soule (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) finishing 10th just one second behind Flannery.

Last Week: NCAA Pre-Nationals...
The second-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team claimed its fourth title of the season with a first-place finish in the 34-team White division at NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday (Oct. 15). The Wolverines' score of 86 points gave them a 10-point margin of victory over runner-up Arizona State at Indiana State's LaVern Gibson Championship Course.

Breakout Year...
Sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) is having a breakout year, after racing in three regular season races and all three tournaments as a true freshman last year, Kohlmeier has currently been the top U-M finisher in all four of her races this year. For her efforts, so far she has received the Big Ten Runner of the Week award twice this year, and has taken first place in two out of four races. Kohlmeier has already posted her best 6K time of her career, with a time of 20:26.9 at the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 15), which was 25.2 seconds better than her last year time of 20:52.1 at the NCAA Regionals (Nov. 13).

She's Back
After sitting out five races, senior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) made her season debut at the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 15) with a time of 21:08.0, finishing in 19th place. Walter's first time of the year, is better than her 6K time of 21:11.4 at the NCAA Championships, where she took 35th place. Walter is returning off a strong 2004 season outing, where she was U-M's top finisher in all seven of her meets, including the three postseason meets.

Weekly Honors
Alyson Kohlmeier earns her third Runner of the Week of the season and second in three weeks after her efforts at the Pre-Nationals meet last week.  The Wolverine sophomore finished fourth with a 6K time of 20:26.9 and was the only Big Ten runner in the top 10.  Kohlmeier has now been the top U-M finisher in all four of her runs this year.  This marks the first time a Big Ten runner has captured three weekly honors in a single-season since both Michigan States Michelle Carson and Penn States Molly Landreth accomplished the feat in 2003.

Leaders and Best in Academics ...
The 2005 Michigan women's cross country team earned the 2004-05 Leaders and Best Award, given to the team with the highest grade point average. It was the third time in a row that Coach McGuire's squad received the award, a $20,000 monetary award donated by football letterman Larry Johnson. Women's cross country is only the second team to win the award more than once.

Returning Champions ...
The Wolverines return 18 letterwinners out of 24 total returning runners from last year's roster, including Big Ten individual champion and NCAA All-American Rebecca Walter, and All-Big Ten second teamer Katie Erdman.

2005 Team Captains Named ...
Head coach Mike McGuire has named senior/junior Katie Erdman and senior Rebecca Walter team captains for the 2005 season. This is the second year in a row the two runners have been named captains. Erdman earned Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors, All-Big Ten second team honors with an 11th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, while placing 15th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and 94th at the NCAA Championships.

2005 FinishLynx Poll (10/17/05)

Rank, Team (1st place) Points 1. Duke (13) 390 2. Stanford 373 3. MICHIGAN 365 4. Notre Dame 352 5. Arizona State 338 6. Illinois 323 7. Columbia 307 8. Brigham Young 301 9. North Carolina State 285 10. Colorado 279 11. Minnesota 250 12. Wake Forest 233 13. Northern Arizona 216 14. Boston College 204 15. Oklahoma State 203 16. Providence 194 17. Arkansas 181 18. Princeton 172 19. Virginia 162 20. Baylor 149 21. Tennessee 137 22. Oregon 125 23. Michigan State 119 24. Rice 96 25. North Carolina 77 26. Washington 65 27. Butler 55 28. Georgia 38 29. Marquette 23 30. Iowa 18

The Mike McGuire File ...
Mike McGuire is in his 14th season as a head coach for the Michigan women's cross country team. In 2004, Michigan won the Big Ten Championship under Coach McGuire, as well as the 2004 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship. For his accomplishments he has received the honors of being named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the sixth time. This will give Coach McGuire his third-straight honor, matching his own three-peat from 1992-94. 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, and '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 Minneapolis, Minn., to defend their Big Ten championship for the fourth straight season on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 10:45 a.m. CST.

Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423