Michigan
Notre Dame Invitational
Michigan Takes First Place at Notre Dame Invitational
9/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team captured titles in both the Blue and Gold divisions at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday (Sept. 30) at the Notre Dame Golf Course. The victory at Notre Dame was the team's second title in as many scored events. The Wolverines scored 77 points to edge out runner-up Illinois in the Blue race by just five points, bettering their runner-up finish of a year ago.
The sun was shining brightly with a temperature of about 75 degrees, giving the runners a very comfortable atmosphere in which to compete. Illinois and Notre Dame took advantage of this and jumped out to a fast start, forcing U-M to scratch and claw its way back into the race. Two miles into the race, Michigan had totaled roughly over 200 points.
Michigan, was able to persevere through the start and began to make their move when junior/sophomore Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) and senior/junior Arianne Field (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett) both moved up in the race, finishing 13th and 14th, respectively, with times of 17:21 and 17:24. Also finishing in the top 20, assisting with very important points, was senior/junior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) coming in at the 20th spot with a time of 17:34.
From the start of the gun, sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) was leading the pack of Michigan harriers. For the third straight meet, Kohlmeier was the top finisher for the Wolverines, this time coming in third with a time of 16:40.
In taking the Gold division title, Michigan finished with 60 points, 113 points less than runner-up Edinboro. The Wolverines placed all five of their harriers in the top 16. Leading the pack of runners for U-M was senior Chelsea Loomis (Traverse City, Mich./West) coming in seventh with a time of 18:04, just four seconds ahead of junior/sophomore Laura Glynn (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison) in eighth.
The Wolverines will compete in the Michigan Intercollegiate on Friday (Oct. 7) at 4 p.m. in Rochester, Mich.
Top 10 Teams (Blue Division)
1. MICHIGAN 77 2. Illinois 82 3. Notre Dame 91 4. Wake Forest 151 5. Arkansas 205 6. Michigan State 230 7. Butler 233 8. Wisconsin 253 9. Missouri 271 10. Vanderbilt 300
Top 15 Individuals (Blue Division)
1. Stephanie Madia, Notre Dame 16:36 2. Molly Huddle, Notre Dame 16:39 3. Alyson Kohlmeier, U-M 16:40 4. Victoria Mitchel, Butler 16:49 5. Cassie Hunt, Illinois 16:52 6. Annie Bersagel, Wake Forest 17:06 7. Stephanie Simms, Illinois 17:07 8. Laura Bowerman, Florida State 17:07 9. Sunni Olding, Notre Dame 17:14 10. Valerie Lauver, Missouri 17:14 11. Ramsey Kavan, Notre Dame 17:16 12. Beata Rudzinska, Akron 17:20 13. Erin Webster, U-M 17:21 14. Arianne Field, U-M 17:24 15. Marissa Daniels, Rice 17:28
Other Michigan Finishes (Blue Division)
20. Katie Erdman 17:34 28. Jessie Stewart 17:40 33. Nicole Edwards 17:42 57. Ana Gjesdal 17:57
Other Michigan Finishes (Gold Division)
7. Chelsea Loomis 18:04 8. Laura Glynn 18:08 14. Kalli Williams 18:18 15. Theresa Feldkamp 18:23 16. Claire Otwell 18:24
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Mike McGuire
On the importance of winning a close race at Notre Dame ... "We were definitely tested today. I thought we showed some resilience in working our way through a really crowded field. At the same time there are some things we need to correct. We know we're going to be in a battle with Illinois coming up at the Big Tens. They're going to get better and we're going to get better, so we'll just line them up and race them down the road. We had a couple of people that were off form today, and we have to get that corrected, and we will."
On what he would like to see at the Michigan Intercollegiate ... "There the emphasis will be on running most of our younger kids. Most of the kids that ran down here won't run. We took 12 down here, so maybe we'll run about three of them. We'll run just the short course race, which is the 4K course. We want to try to work on getting better with the people we're putting out on the line."
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
