Weekly Release #7
11/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Nov. 12 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Bloomington, Ind.), 12:15 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 21 -- at NCAA Championships (Terre Haute, Ind.), 1 p.m.
This Week: At NCAA Great Lakes Regionals...
The Wolverines travel to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals on Saturday, Nov. 12 at the IU Cross Country Course at Indiana University at 12:15 p.m. The 6,000-meter race will feature the top teams in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, including the No. 3-ranked Wolverines, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 22 Butler, No. 23 Marquette, No. 29 Indiana University, No. 30 Michigan State.
Michigan will run seven harriers in the championship, led by sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) who placed second at the Big Ten Championships and fourth in the NCAA Pre-Nationals, first among all Big Ten competitors. Joining Kolhmeier will be a combination of redshirt freshman Nicole Edwards (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey), redshirt junior Arianne Field (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett), redshirt senior Ana Gjesdal (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta), redshirt junior Jessie Stewart (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix), senior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves), redshirt sophomore Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child). Edwards was 20th at the NCAA Pre-Nats, while Fields took 97th and Gjesdal finished 21st. Stewart took fourth in the NCAA Pre-Nationals open division.
The top two teams automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, joining the top two finishers in each of the eight other regions. Thirteen of the remaining squads will receive at-large bids based on rankings and performances against teams outside of the region.
Big Ten Coach of the Year ...
Head coach Mike McGuire was voted the Big Ten Coach of the Year by his fellow conference coaches for leading Michigan to its fourth-straight Big Ten title. McGuire has earned the honor seven times in his career, including the last four seasons.
Maize and Blue Earn Fourth Consecutive Big Ten Championship...
Michigan won its fourth straight Big Ten title on Sunday (Oct. 30), as five U-M harriers placed in the top-14. Leading the Wolverine harriers for the fifth time of the season was sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's), as she crossed the finish line at 21:02.74, just 2.54 seconds from first place. The second U-M runner to cross the line was sophomore Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child), coming in seventh with a time of 21:22.04. Also assisting Michigan in earning its 42 points were redshirt freshman Nicole Edwards (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey), who took eighth place at 21:24.79; senior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves), who in her second race of the season finished 11th, exactly eight seconds behind Edwards; and junior Arianne Field (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett), who was the final runner to earn All-Big Ten honors, as she took 14th place with a time of 21:38.94.
Third in the Nation ...
The Wolverines are ranked No. 3 in the nation in the FinishLynx NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Poll with 361 points. Only Duke, and Stanford are ahead of the Wolverines in the polls.
Rank, Team (1st place) Points 1. Duke (13) 390 2. Stanford 377 3. MICHIGAN 361 4. Notre Dame 353 5. Arizona State 339 6. Illinois 325 7. Brigham Young 306 8. Columbia 299 9. North Carolina State 284 10. Colorado 274 11. Minnesota 262 12. Wake Forest 234 13. Providence 219 14. Princeton 203 15. Tennessee 199 16. Oklahoma State 196 17. Northern Arizona 191 18. Boston College 183 19. Arkansas 171 20. Baylor 134 21. Oregon 128 22. Butler 123 23. Marquette 83 24. North Carolina 80 25. Rice 69 26. Washington 66 27. Georgetown 37 28. Missouri 32 29. Indiana 23 30. Michigan State 19
Big Ten Sportsman -- Alyson Kohlmeier ...
Sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) was honored with the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award after the Big Ten Championship for her ethical behavior and good sportsmanship during competition.
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.
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 Terre Haute, Ind., to try to capture the NCAA Championship title on Monday (Nov. 21) at 1 p.m.
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
