Weekly Release #1

Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Sept. 28 -- at Notre Dame Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), 5 p.m. EST
Saturday, Oct. 13 -- Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.), 11 a.m. EST

This Week: The Notre Dame Invitational ...
The University of Michigan men's cross country team will head to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Invitational Friday (Sept. 28) on the Notre Dame Golf Course. The 8,000-meter scoring event is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Running this week for the Wolverines will be senior/junior Victor Gras (Belmont, Mass./Belmont HS), junior/sophomore Brandon Fellows (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island HS), junior Lex Williams (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter HS), senior Mike Woods (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest HS), junior John Black (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice), 5th-year senior James Reichardt (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS), sophomore/freshman Peter Christmas (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS), sophomore Mike Dobmeier (East Amherst, N.Y./Williams North HS), junior/sophomore Sean McNamara (Elmhurst, Ill./York HS), junior Tony Nalli (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter HS), sophomore/freshman Ciaran O'Lionaird (Cork, Ireland/De La Salle HS), junior Justin Switzer (Waterford, Mich./Kettering HS).

In Their Debut ...
The Wolverines made their first appearance of the 2007 season in the Michigan Open, which was held (Aug. 31) as a non-scoring, 10,000-meter event. Leading the Maize and Blue were Victor Gras and Brandon Fellows, who finished in third and fourth positions, respectively, crossing the finish line together at 31:53. Lex Williams, an All-Big Ten first team performer last season, ran unattached and finished fifth (31:56), while freshman Craig Forys (Howell, N.J./Colts Neck) -- who competed unattached in his collegiate debut -- took 13th with a 32:41.

Familiar Faces ...
Michigan returns 13 letterwinners from last season's squad, including the top three scorers from last season's NCAA Regional Championships squad: Senior Mike Woods and juniors Lex Williams and John Black. Black was named All-Regional after he placed 19th in the Great Lakes Regional Championships.

Also returning to the U-M lineup are Victor Gras and Brandon Fellows, who have both demonstrated great potential in their competitive appearances, as well has senior Seth Thibodeau (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) and 5th-year senior James Reichardt.

Master of the House ...
Head coach Ron Warhurst is in his 34th season as the head coach of the Michigan men's cross country team. During his U-M tenure, Warhurst has produced six Big Ten Conference championships teams (1974-75-76-80 (tie)-93-97-98) and guided 12 squads to top-10 performances at the NCAA Championships. Individually, Warhurst has coached 21 different student-athletes to 39 NCAA All-America citations at Michigan.

In the Polls ...
The United States Cross Country Coaches Association released its first national and regional polls for the 2007 season Tuesday, Sept. 11, placing Michigan 26th nationally and fifth regionally.

On the Horizon ...
The Wolverines will head to Terre Haute, Ind., for the NCAA Pre-Nationals Saturday, Oct. 13. The meet is slated for a 11 a.m. EST start and will serve as a preview of the 2007 NCAA Championships.

Contact: Jeremiah W. Hergott (734) 763-4423