Weekly Release #9

Upcoming Schedule
Monday, Nov. 24 -- at NCAA Championships (Waterloo, Iowa), 11 a.m. CST

Michigan Heads to NCAA Championships
After earning an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Championships by placing second at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, the University of Michigan men's cross country team will send their entire seven-man lineup to the NCAA Championships on Monday (Nov. 24) in Watlerloo, Iowa. Hosted by Northern Iowa, the men's 10,000-meter race is slated for an 11 a.m. CST start at the Irv Warren Golf Course.

Scouting the Field
Thirty-one teams, composed of 18 automatic and 13 at-large bids, will compete for the 2003 NCAA Championship. Joining the Wolverines out of the Great Lakes Region are automatic qualifier Wisconsin as well as at-large bids Central Michigan, Indiana, Miami (Ohio) and Ohio State. Air Force, Arkansas, Arizona, Brigham Young, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Colorado, Colorado State, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Iona, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina State, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Portland, Providence, Stanford, Texas A&M, Villanova, Virgina, Washington and William & Mary round out the championship field. Additionally, 38 individuals whose teams did not qualify for the NCAA Championships will have the chance to race after finishing among the top 20 individuals in their respective NCAA regional championships, irrespective of their teams' finishes. Meet Sites: NCAA | Northern Iowa

Michigan at the NCAA Championships
Michigan has made 22 previous appearances at the NCAA Championships, including 12 of the last 13 years. U-M's highest finish at the event was fourth place, which it accomplished twice in back-to-back seasons in 1997 and '98. Last year, Michigan finished eighth in the team competition behind the All-America performances of Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) and Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS). Brannen placed 22nd with a personal-best time of 30:20.4, while Willis finished a only few paces later in 28th place at 30:24.7, also a personal best.

U-M at the NCAA Championships

1974   12th (304 points)
1975   22nd (506 points)
1976   18th (456 points)
1978   21st (467 points)
1979   13th (360 points)
1980   7th (243 points)
1982   6th (177 points)
1983   17th (345 points)
1984   8th (296 points)
1988   16th (321 points)
1990   13th (312 points)

1991   6th (244 points)
1992   5th (214 points)
1993   10th (296 points)
1994   7th (222 points)
1995   11th (267 points)
1996   14th (383 points)
1997   4th (116 points)
1998   4th (183 points)
1999   5th (282 points)
2001   11th (364 points)
2002   8th (309 points)

NCAA Championships Lineup

Nate Brannen
Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS)
Tarn Leach (East Jordan, Mich./East Jordan HS)
Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS)
Sean Moore (Saline, Mich./Saline HS)
Nick Stanko (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt HS)
Nick Willis

Wolverines Capture Second at NCAA Regionals
Michigan earned its ticket to the NCAA Championships by way of finishing second at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday (Nov. 15) in Terre Haute, Ind. With 76 points in team scoring, the Wolverines finished only four points shy of first-place Wisconsin. Michigan was the only team to put multiple placers in the top-10 with Nate Brannen, Nick Willis and Tom Greenless clocking three of the race's quickest times. Brannen collected fourth place with a time of 30:43.2, Willis finishing sixth at 30:46.5 and Greenless earned a personal-best time of 30:50 to round out the top 10. Also scoring for the Maize and Blue were Nick Stanko in 17th place with a personal-best of 30:54.2 and Alex L'Heureux in 39th place at 31:23.1.

Big Ten Honors
Fifth-year senior Ryan Hesselink (Freeport, Mich./Thornapple-Kellogg HS) was named Big Ten Athlete of the Week following his eighth-place performance at the EMU Classic (Oct. 24). Hesselink clocked a season-best time of 25:34 to register his second top-10 finish of the season. Michigan runners have earned conference weekly honors three times in the last four weeks and a total of four time this season, the most ever for the Wolverines in one season. Sophomore Nick Willis was named Big Ten co-Athlete of the Week twice within a three-week span after taking seventh at the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 18) and second at the Notre Dame Invitational (Oct. 3). Senior Tom Greenless also 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 12 Big Ten weekly honors.

In the Polls
The Wolverines moved up one spot into the fifth position in the most recent MONDO rankings (Nov. 18) after placing second at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.

MONDO Collegiate Cross Country Poll (11/18/03)

 Rank Rank Region Rank, Team (1st place votes) Region Pts. 11/4 10/21 Place 1. Stanford (15) W 479 1 1 1Q 2. Wisconsin (1) GL 462 2 2 1Q 3. Colorado M 444 3 4 1Q 4. Iona NE 420 4 3 1Q 5. MICHIGAN GL 415 6 6 2Q 6. Northern Arizona M 413 5 5 2Q 7. Arkansas SC 375 7 8 1Q 8. Air Force M 358 8 9 3q 9. Villanova MA 324 16 11 1Q 10. Ohio State GL 320 13 7 3q 11. Brigham Young M 310 10 12 4q 12. North Carolina State SE 307 14 17 1Q 13. Georgetown MA 283 9 13 2Q 14. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo W 260 15 16 2Q 15. Central Michigan GL 244 22 22 4q 16. Colorado State M 235 17 10 5q 17. Providence NE 216 21 20 2Q 18. Georgia S 205 19 21 1Q 19. Indiana GL 196 11 19 5q 20. Arizona W 195 27 14 3q 21. Oklahoma State MW 149 23 -- 1Q 22. Washington W 128 20 27 4q 23. Florida State S 127 24 23 2Q 24. Oregon W 100 12 18 5q 25. Miami (Ohio) GL 89 -- 26 6q 26. Texas A&M SC 65 26 25 2Q 27. Portland W 56 -- -- 6q 28. Kentucky SE 46 -- -- 2Q 29. Butler GL 42 -- -- 7 30. Notre Dame GL 41 18 24 8 -- Minnesota MW -- -- 2Q -- William & Mary SE 29 29 3q -- Iowa MW 30 30 3 -- Arizona State W 25 15 8 -- Eastern Michigan GL 28 -- 9 -- Kansas MW -- 28 4 -- Virginia SE -- -- 4q

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423