Weekly Release #4: Pre-Nats Ahead for Wolverines
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Saturday, Oct. 18, 11 a.m. -- NCAA Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.)
The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team travels to Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday (Oct. 18) for the NCAA Pre-Nationals, featuring 86 programs from around the country, including 23 of the top-30 teams in the nation. Fifth-year senior Nicole Edwards(Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey) is seeking her third straight U-M top finish, having earned the highest placing among Wolverines in each of the last two races -- fifth at Notre Dame and first at Detroit Titan Invitational.
The Pre-Nationals, held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, will be run on the same 6,000-meter course used for the NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 24.
Wolverine to Watch
| Junior Jenny Morgan Last season at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, Jenny Morgan (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) posted a top-25 finish in the white race with a time of 20:56.6. This season, Morgan made her first start of the year at the Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 3), finishing 55th in the highly-competitive field with a time of 17:35. |
How They Rank
The Wolverines are ranked 11th in the latest USTFCCCA Women's Division I Cross Country National Poll and are the second-ranked team in the Great Lakes region, trailing only No. 9 Michigan State. U-M is one of six schools in the Big Ten ranked in this week's top 30.
| USTFCCCA Women's Division I Cross Country National Poll | |||
| Rank | Team (first place votes) | Region/Rank | Totals |
| 1 | Washington - (9) | West-1 | 357 |
| 2 | Oregon - (3) | West-2 | 350 |
| 3 | Florida State | South-1 | 336 |
| 4 | Minnesota | Midwest-1 | 320 |
| 5 | Princeton | Mid-Atlantic-1 | 307 |
| 6 | Stanford | West-3 | 295 |
| 7 | West Virginia | Mid-Atlantic-2 | 285 |
| 8 | Arizona State | West-4 | 276 |
| 9 | Michigan State | Great Lakes-1 | 271 |
| 10 | Arkansas | South Central-1 | 254 |
| 11 | Michigan | Great Lakes-2 | 243 |
| 12 | Stony Brook | Northeast-1 | 213 |
| 13 | Villanova | Mid-Atlantic-4 | 194 |
| 14 | Baylor | South Central-2 | 190 |
| 15 | Florida | South-2 | 182 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | Great Lakes-3 | 164 |
| 17 | Illinois | Midwest-2 | 162 |
| 18 | North Carolina State | Southeast-1 | 153 |
| 19 | Georgetown | Mid-Atlantic-3 | 144 |
| 20 | Penn State | Mid-Atlantic-5 | 117 |
| 21 | Providence | Northeast-2 | 112 |
| 22 | Northern | Arizona Mountain-2 | 105 |
| 23 | Southern Methodist | South Central-3 | 99 |
| 24 | Rice | South Central-4 | 96 |
| 25 | Wake Forest | Southeast-2 | 91 |
| 26 | BYU | Mountain-1 | 66 |
| 27 | New Mexico | Mountain-3 | 49 |
| 28 | Duke | Southeast-3 | 47 |
| 29 | Texas Tech | Mountain-6 | 32 |
| 30 | Syracuse | Northeast-3 | 14 |
Last Time Out: Notre Dame Invitational
The Wolverines had a strong third-place showing (136 points) in the blue-division race at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday afternoon (Oct. 3). No. 2-ranked Florida State won the meet with 88 points and No. 7-ranked Princeton took second with 124. U-M finished ahead of a number of ranked teams, including No. 10 Illinois, No. 15 Florida and No. 16 Providence.
Nicole Edwards was Michigan's top finisher, taking fifth in 16:40. Fifth-year senior Alyson Kohlmeier(Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's), running her first collegiate race since 2006, had a strong performance, taking 11th with a time of 17:00.
Last Time at the NCAA Pre-Nationals
Last season, the University of Michigan women's cross country team turned in a third-place showing in the White race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals with 173 points. Three Wolverines posted top-25 finishes, led by Nicole Edwards' 11th-place performance (20:29.7). Erin Webster (2004-07) finished 13th in 20:34.9 and Jenny Morgan took 25th with a time of 20:56.6.
Leaders and Best in Academics
The 2007 women's cross country team was recently recognized with the 2007-08 Leaders and Best Award for highest overall women's team grade-point average. This marked the sixth straight season the cross country team has been recognized with the Leaders and Best Award. As recipients of the award, the cross country program received a trophy and a $5,000 award, donated by former football letterman Larry Johnson.
The Mike McGuire File
Mike McGuire is in his 17th season as head coach of the Michigan women's cross country team. During his tenure, the Wolverines have won eight Big Ten titles and five NCAA Regional crowns. McGuire has been honored as the Big Ten Coach of the Year on eight occasions and has been named NCAA Regional Coach of the Year five times. Under McGuire, Michigan has posted 14 top-two finishes in 16 seasons at the Big Ten Championships, 11 top-two finishes at NCAA Regionals and eight top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships.
Up Next...
Michigan will next be in action on Friday, Oct. 24, at the EMU Classic at 4 p.m. in Dexter, Mich., at Hudson Mills Metropark
Contact: Jeremy Reid (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
