Weekly Release #6
10/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 30 -- at Big Ten Championships (Falcon Heights, Minn.), 10:45 a.m. CST
Saturday, Nov. 12 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Bloomington, Ind.), Noon
This Week: Big Ten Championships
The No. 3-ranked Wolverines closed out their regular season, and begin the tournament portion of the season, heading out to Falcon Heights, Minn., on Sunday (Oct. 30) to seek their fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship.
Last Time at the Big Ten Championships
Last year at the Big Ten Championship, Michigan placed all five scored runners among the top 16 -- finishing within 53 seconds of each other -- as the Wolverines captured their third consecutive conference team title at the Big Ten Conference Championships on Sunday (Oct. 31) at Iowa's Ashton Cross Country Course. U-M's total of 45 points gave the Wolverines a 40-point margin of victory over Illinois and Michigan State. Senior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) and sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) were the only Wolverines to make the Big Ten First Team, with a 2nd place and 7th place finish, respectively.
Last Week: EMU Classic
The Wolverines closed out their regular season with a non-scoring meet at Eagle Crest Golf Course in Ypsilanti, Mich., where they ran in the EMU Classic (Oct. 21). Runners with U-M ties were placed in the top six, three runners on the team and three unattached runners. The first runner to cross the finish line was U-M's senior Chelsea Loomis (Traverse City, Mich./West) with a time of 17:51.4. Loomis' recorded her best 5K time with her time of 17:51.4, taking more than 12 seconds off her previous best time of 18:04 set at the Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 30). Coming in third was senior Theresa Feldkamp (Lorain, Ohio/Amherst Steele), as she ran in her last collegiate cross country race, finishing with a time of 18:00.2.
Weekly Honors
Senior Chelsea Loomis (Traverse City, Mich./West) was named Big Ten Conference Runner of the Week on Tuesday (Oct. 25) for her winning performance at the EMU Classic last Friday (Oct. 21) in Ypsilanti, Mich. It is Loomis' first weekly honor of her career and the final award of the 2005 season. In her fifth race of the season, Loomis took first place at the non-scoring meet as she posted her career-best 5K time of 17:51.4. The Michigan senior, who took more than 12 seconds off her previous best time of 18:04 set at the Notre Dame Invitational in late September, paced the Wolverines for the first time this season.
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.
FinishLynx National 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 Bloomington, Ind., to try to capture their second NCAA Great Lakes Regional title on Saturday (Nov. 12) at noon.
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
