Weekly Release #6
10/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Oct. 24 -- at EMU Classic (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 2 -- at Big Ten Championships (East Lansing, Mich.), 11 a.m.
Michigan Closes the Regular Season at EMU Open
The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team will send seven runners to compete in its final regular-season event at the EMU Classic on Friday (Oct. 24). The 8,000-meter race will be run at Rolling Hills Park at 4 p.m. The Wolverines' top runners will take a one-week hiatus from competition while preparing for the Big Ten Conference Championships.
Personal Bests Pace the Wolverines at Pre-Nationals
Michigan's five scored runners all set new personal-best times at the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday (Oct. 18) in Waterloo, Iowa, to lead U-M to a third-place finish in the Purple division with 148 points. Sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) paced the Wolverines with his third top-10 finish of the season, placing seventh at 23:37.0, 38 seconds quicker than his previous career high. Senior Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) and junior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) also scored top-20 finishes, placing 16th and 20th, respectively, with times of 23:54.9 and 23:58.2.
U-M Personal Bests Set at Pre-Nationals
RUNNER NEW PREVIOUS Nick Willis 23:37.0 24:15.7 Tom Greenless 23:54.9 23:55.0 Nate Brannen 23:58.2 23:59.0 Nick Stanko 24:21.4 24:22.0 Alex L'Heureux 24:32.8 24:33.0
Sub-24 Mark
Three Wolverines -- sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS), senior Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) and junior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) -- broke the 24-minute mark for the first time at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. The last time a Michigan runner ran the 8,000 meters quicker than 24 minutes was two years ago when Alan Webb won the 2001 Big Ten championship with a time of 23:19.9.
Big Ten Honors
Sophomore Nick Willis was named Big Ten Conference co-Athlete of the Week for the first time in his career following his second-place performance at the Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 3). Willis is the second Wolverine runner to garner such honor this season; senior Tom Greenless earned the recognition for the week of Sept. 24 after his first-place finish at the Spartan Invitational (Sept. 19). Since 1999, seven different Michigan runners have earned a combined 10 Big Ten weekly honors.
In the Polls
After claiming third place at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, the Wolverines jumped seven positions into the sixth spot in the most recent MONDO rankings (Oct. 21).
MONDO Collegiate Cross Country Poll (10/21/03)
Rank Rank Rank, Team (first place votes) Region Points 10/14 10/7 1. Stanford (15) W 479 1 1 2. Wisconsin (1) GL 464 2 2 3. Iona NE 432 10 10 4. Colorado M 431 5 5 5. Northern Arizona M 425 3 3 6. MICHIGAN GL 397 13 12 7. Ohio State GL 375 11 11 8. Arkansas SC 345 8 9 9. Air Force M 340 -- -- 10. Colorado State M 329 9 8 11. Villanova MA 313 18 19 12. BYU M 300 4 4 13. Georgetown MA 297 14 14 14. Arizona W 270 19 20 15. Arizona State W 269 12 13 16. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo W 237 24 25 17. North Carolina State SE 227 21 22 18. Oregon W 216 7 7 19. Indiana GL 173 25 24 20. Providence NE 166 17 18 21. Georgia S 158 20 17 22. Central Michigan GL 134 6 6 23. Florida State S 131 -- -- 24. Notre Dame GL 129 15 16 25. Texas A&M SC 83 27 27 26. Miami (Ohio) GL 67 -- -- 27. Washington W 48 -- -- 28. Kansas MW 42 -- -- 29. William & Mary SE 31 22 23 30. Iowa MW 29 -- --
On the Horizon
The Wolverines kick off the postseason on Sunday, Nov. 2, when they travel to East Lansing, Mich., for the Big Ten Conference Championships. The 8,000-meter event will begin at 10 a.m. at Forest Akers East Golf Course.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
