U-M Second at Regional, Earns Automatic NCAA Berth

Saturday, November 15

Terre Haute, Ind.

11:00 AM

Michigan

NCAA Great Lakes Regional

11/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The University of Michigan men's cross country team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships by running to a second-place finish (76 points) at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday (Nov. 15). Michigan was the only team to place multiple runners in the top 10 as three Wolverines finished among the fastest 10 to put U-M only four points shy of first-place Wisconsin (72).

Junior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) paced the Maize and Blue for the second consecutive meet, finishing fourth with a time of 30:43.2. Sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) clocked a time of 30:46.5 to finish sixth, his fifth top-10 showing of the season, and senior Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) rounded out the top 10 with a personal-best time of 30:50.0, shaving nearly 19 seconds off of his previous 10,000-meter best.

Also contributing to Michigan's team score were fifth-year senior Nick Stanko (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt HS), who also posted a personal best by collecting a 17th-place finish at 30:54.2, 24 seconds quicker than his previous best, and fifth-year senior Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS), finishing 39th in his first collegiate 10,000-meter race with a time of 31:23.1.

With their automatic bid in place, the Wolverines will wrap up the 2003 season on Monday, Nov. 24, at the NCAA Championships in Waterloo, Iowa. Hosted by the University of Northern Iowa, both the men's and women's races will take place at the Irv Warren Golf Course. The men's 10,000-meter race is slated to begin at 11 a.m. CST.

Top 10 Teams

 1. Wisconsin 72 2. MICHIGAN 76 3. Ohio State 116 4. Central Michigan 131 5. Indiana 134 6. Miami (Ohio) 141 7. Butler 143 8. Notre Dame 145 9. Eastern Michigan 181 10. Kent State 268

Top 10 Individuals

 1. Gavin Thompson, Eastern Michigan 30:12.0 2. David Mitchell, Miami 30:37.3 3. Sean Jefferson, Indiana 30:41.0 4. Nate Brannen, U-M 30:43.2 5. Rob Myers, Ohio State 30:44.6 6. Nick Willis, U-M 30:46.5 7. Todd Mobley, Notre Dame 30:47.3 8. Tristen Perlman, Central Michigan 30:48.5 9. Bobby Lockhart, Wisconsin 30:49.7 10. Tom Greenless, U-M 30:50.0

Other Michigan Individuals

17. Nick Stanko 30:54.2 39. Alex L'Heureux 31:23.1 53. Sean Moore 31:43.0 54. Tarn Leach 31:44.1

Q U O T E S

U-M Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On Michigan's performance ... "I am really happy with the way we ran, and I am really happy that we are headed to NCAAs. All of the guys said that they felt pretty comfortable during the run and that it felt pretty easy, so that's a great sign. We just keep getting better every week and closer to the other top teams."

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423