Weekly Release #7
10/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Saturday, Oct. 30 -- at Big Ten Championship (State College, Pa.), 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 13 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.), 11 a.m.
Up Next for Michigan
The Michigan cross country teams will travel to State College, Pa., Saturday (Oct. 30) for the Big Ten Conference Championship. The women's 5,000-meter race will start the event at 10:45 a.m. on the Penn State White Golf Course, followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 11:30 a.m.
This year's men's championship features three ranked teams -- No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 8 Michigan and No. 24 Minnesota. Michigan has a great opportunity to pull off an upset over Wisconsin with stellar performances from such Wolverines as Jay Cantin (Camlachie, Ontario/St. Clair SS), Steve Lawrence (Consecon, Ontario/East Northumberland SS) and Mike Wisniewski (Temperance, Mich./Bedford HS).
Men Poised for Another Championship
The Michigan men's cross country team will be bidding for its third straight Big Ten Conference title.
Following the loss of John Mortimer and Todd Snyder, the Wolverines have not only filled the void of leadership with seniors Lawrence and Cantin, but have turned out tremendous performances from junior Wisniewski, sophomore Mark Pilja (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North HS), junior John Butsic (Iron River, Mich./West Iron County HS), sophomore Tom Caughlan (West Des Moines, Iowa/Mason City HS) and freshman David Cook (Portage, Mich./Northern HS). Cantin, Lawrence, Wisniewski and Pilja have combined for six of the top 10 times in the Big Ten this season. They will have to turn out their best performances in order to down Wisconsin and take the title.
Head coach Ron Warhurst is excited about Saturday's championship. "We've been training very hard," said Warhurst. "These kids have outstanding work ethics and we're ready. It's going to be a great race."
Probable Wolverines at the Big Ten Championship
John Butsic, Jay Cantin, Tom Caughlan, David Cook, Nate Hoffman (Allegan, Mich./Allegan HS), Steve Lawrence, Mark Pilja, Nick Stanko (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte Roosevelt HS) and Mike Wisniewski.
Michigan Notables
-- Jay Cantin continues to be the Wolverines' top finisher. After posting a 23:54 time at the adidas/Notre Dame Invitational and winning the Murray Keatinge Invitational, the senior was named the Big Ten Cross Country Athlete of the Week for two consecutive weeks (Oct. 6 and Oct. 13). Cantin finished first overall at the Wolverine Interregional.
-- Senior captain Steve Lawrence is still running strong. After placing second at the Murray Keatinge Invitational (Oct. 9), Lawrence was edged out of second place by three seconds to finish in third with a time of 24:57 at the Wolverine Interregional.
-- This will be the Wolverines' second visit to Penn State's White Golf Course this season. At the Spiked Shoe Invitational (Sept. 18) they placed third behind No. 11 James Madison and No. 7 Georgetown. Since then Michigan has upset James Madison at the Wolverine Interregional (Oct. 17) and tied Georgetown at the adidas/Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 1).
NCAA Cross Country Poll
The Michigan men's cross country team rose from No. 11 to No. 8 in the NCAA Division I poll for Oct. 19 after upsetting James Madison at the Wolverine Interregional (Oct. 17). Michigan is the second highest rated Big Ten team in the poll, trailing No. 5 Wisconsin. Minnesota entered the poll at No. 24 for its first ranking this season.
MONDO Men's Cross Country Rankings (10/19/99)
Team Reg. Pts 1. Arkansas (15) SC 399 2. Stanford (1) W 381 3. North Carolina State SE 368 4. Colorado MT 351 5. Wisconsin GL 339 6. Arizona W 321 7. Georgetown MA 299 8. MICHIGAN GL 281 9. Arizona State W 268 10. Notre Dame GL 254 11. James Madison SE 232 12. Oregon W 228 13. Brigham Young MT 209 14. Villanova MA 173 15. Utah MT 169 16. Northern Arizona MT 167 17. Weber State MT 126 18. Princeton MA 120 19. William & Mary SE 116 20. Portland W 91 21. Dartmouth NE 73 22. Brown NE 55 23. Tennessee S 37 24. Minnesota MW 36 25. Providence NE 26 South Florida S 26
NE = Northeast, MA = Mid-Atlantic, SE = Southeast, GL = Great Lakes,
MW = Midwest, SC = South Central, MT = Mountain, W = West, S = South
Contact: Adrienne Gutierrez (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
