Weekly Release #8
11/16/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Monday, Nov. 22 -- at NCAA Championship (Bloomington, Ind.), 12:15 p.m.
Up Next for Michigan
The Wolverine women's cross country team will travel to Bloomington, Ind., next Monday (Nov. 22) for the NCAA Championships. The women's 5,000-meter race will start at 12:15 p.m. EST on the Indiana University Cross Country Course. The women's course record is held by Michelle Dekkers of Indiana with a time of 16:19.0.
In 1998, the Michigan women finished their season 11th in the country. The Wolverines return four of their scorers from the 1998 nationals. Lisa Ouellet (Sudbury, Ontario/Lasalle SS) came in 68th, Sarah Hamilton (Canton, Mich./Salem HS) finished 146th, Katie Clifford (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Catholic HS) crossed the line at 165th and Julie Froud (St. Mary's, Ontario/St. Mary's D.V.C.I.) came in 175th.
Three other Big Ten Conference women's teams are invited to the championship. Minnesota received an at-large bid, while Michigan State and Wisconsin received automatic bids. From the Great Lakes Region, Notre Dame received an at-large bid. The women have defeated all teams competing from the Big Ten Conference and the Great Lakes Region this year except Wisconsin.
Women Ready to Finish Season at NCAA National Championship
After surprising many by finishing second overall at the Big Ten Conference Championship (Oct. 30), the Michigan women's cross country went on to finish third at the Great Lakes Regional Championship (Nov. 13).
The women received an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship Monday afternoon (Nov. 15). Since the team finished third at regionals, it did not earn an automatic bid, missing by just one spot.
"I think we can finish in the top 15," said head coach Mike McGuire after receiving the at-large bid. "We are very excited about going. We've improved a great deal in the last month and if we can continue, we can represent ourselves well at nationals."
The Wolverines have had stellar performances out of several harriers in the postseason, including senior Elizabeth Kampfe (Decatur, Ill./MacArthur HS) and sophomore Erin White (Battle Creek, Mich./Central HS), who both battled health problems all season. Senior Marcy Akard (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) has also shown tremendous improvement, moving herself up into the top four finishers for Michigan and cutting nearly two minutes off her time since the Michigan Intercollegiate (Oct. 8).
This year marks the women's 10th appearance ever and 10th consecutive appearance at the NCAA National Championship. The Wolverines finished 11th in 1998, with Katie McGregor winning the championship.
Michigan Notables
-- Lisa Ouellet's (Sudbury, Ontario/Lasalle SS) six-race streak of finishing as the Wolverines' top runner is over. The junior fell under the weather last week, which made it difficult for her to give her normal performance.
-- Katie Clifford (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Catholic HS) finished on top for Michigan for the first time this season, taking fifth at the Great Lakes Regional Championship.
-- Except Ouellet, all of the Wolverine women who ran at the Great Lakes Regional Championship posted season-best times. Plagued with shin problems all season, Elizabeth Kampfe ran her best race, posting a 13th-place finish with a time of 17:40.
NCAA National Poll
After a finishing third at the Great Lakes Regional Championship, the Wolverine women stayed in the national poll for another week at No. 17. The women dropped two places after No. 14 Michigan State finished ahead of the Wolverines at the regional. Two other Big Ten teams, No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 22 Minnesota, are ranked among the top 25 squads.
FinishLynx Women's Cross Country Rankings (11/15/99)
Team Reg. Pts LW 1. Stanford (12) W 300 1 2. Brigham Young MT 283 3 3. Arkansas SC 280 2 4. Wisconsin GL 263 5 5. Colorado MT 246 4 6. Georgetown MA 232 6 7. Washington W 228 10 8. North Carolina SE 216 8 9. Kansas State MW 209 7 10. Arizona State W 175 9 11. North Carolina State SE 173 11 12. Villanova MA 172 22 13. Providence NE 167 17 14. Michigan State GL 128 19 15. UCLA W 124 14 16. Missouri MW 108 21 17. MICHIGAN GL 90 15 18. Northern Arizona MT 76 20 19. Nebraska MW 74 23 20. Brown NE 71.5 NR 21. Duke SE 62 NR 22. Minnesota MW 53 16 23. Boston University NE 42 18 24. Oregon W 40 25 25. Texas SC 31 NR
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
