Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverines Repeat as Big Ten Conference Champions
11/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Forest Akers East Golf Course)
Meet: Big Ten Championships (6,000 Meters)
U-M Finish: 1st Place of 11 Teams (31)
Top U-M Individual: Rebecca Walter, 1st (20:40.5)
Next Meet: Saturday, Nov. 15 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Terre Haute, Ind.), 12:15 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The No. 10-ranked Univesity of Michigan women's cross country team had all five scoring runners finish in the top 15, including Big Ten Conference individual champion Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves HS), as the Wolverines claimed their second consecutive conference team title with a low score of 31 points Sunday afternoon (Nov. 2) on the 6,000-meter course at Forest Akers Golf Course.
Walter jumped to the head of the pack right off the line, as she joined Michigan State's Michelle Carson at the front of the race. Through 1,000 meters the two had broken free and were running stride for stride. However, a mile and a half into the race Walter began to pull free of Carson.
Walter continued to gain ground the second time around the loop as she opened up a 30-meter lead on the Michigan State senior. Running the best race of her career Walter looked strong coming down the stretch as she crossed the finish line in first place with a personal-best time of 20:40.5.
It marks the first time since 1998 -- and only the fifth time ever -- a Wolverine has run to the Big Ten individual title. Katie McGregor (1995-98) was the last Michigan harrier to take home the gold medal when she claimed back-to-back Big Ten individual crowns in 1997 and 1998.
Joining Walter on the All-Big Ten first team were graduate/senior Jessie Allen-Young (Loveland, Colo./Thompson ValleyHS), senior Lindsey Gallo (Freehold, N.J./Howell HS) and junior/sophomore Sarah Pizzo (Golden, Colo./Mullen HS).
Running in her first career Big Ten Championships, Allen-Young, a 2003 Dartmouth College graduate, finished third with a time of 20:52.2. At the other end of the spectrum Gallo was running in her final conference meet and made the most of it with a sixth-place finish in 21:11.1. Pizzo rounded out the first teamers as she followed Gallo across the line for seventh place in a time of 21:16.1.
Allen-Young and Gallo ran a majority of the race side by side battling for fifth and sixth, but with a 800 meters remaing Allen-Young began to move up the field. She was able to pass three runners to earn the third-place finish.
Sophomore/freshman Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac HS) was the fifth Wolverine to cross the finish line as she earned All-Big Ten second team honors for her 14th-place finish in a personal-best time of 21:41.8. Erdman had only run in one other 6,000-meter meet, finishing 22nd at the NCAA Pre-Nationals race with a time of 22:19.8.
Team captain Andrea Parker (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) and Chelsea Loomis (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) were the next two Michigan athletes across the line, finishing 28th (22:03.04) and 29th (22:06.2), respectivley. Theresa Feldkamp (Lorain, Ohio/Amherst Steele HS) finished 41st (22:17.4), while Chelsea Homan (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson HS) placed 65th (22:55.0).
The Wolverines has a week off from competition before they travel to Terre Haute, Ind., to try and earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships with a top-two finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Team Standings
1. MICHIGAN 31 2. Michigan State 57 3. Penn State 76 4. Indiana 164 5. Wisconsin 167 6. Minnesota 170 7. Illinois 188 8. Ohio State 197 9. Northwestern 213 10. Purdue 231 11. Iowa 241
Top 10 Individuals
1. Rebecca Walter, U-M 20:40.5 2. Michelle Carson, MSU 20:49.1 3. Jesse Allen-Young, U-M 20:52.4 4. Molly Landreth, Penn State 20:55.2 5. Jamie Krzyminski, MSU 20:57.7 6. Lindsey Gallo, U-M 21:11.1 7. Sarah Pizzo, U-M 21:16.1 8. Sarah Pepera, MSU 21:20.3 9. Audrey Giesler, Indiana 21:22.9 10. Jenny Stevens, Penn State 21:26.4
Other Michigan Individuals
14. Katie Erdman 21:41.8 28. Andrea Parker 22:03.4 29. Chelsea Loomis 22:06.2 41. Theresa Feldkamp 22:17.4 65. Chelsea Homan 22:55.0
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Mike McGuire
On the race ... "The game plan coming in was we're going to run together as a pack early on, but when Rebecca (Walter) made her move, I just said, 'Hey, if you are going to commit to it, then commit to it.' She went a little earlier than I thought she should, but she was in control of things. I haven't had somebody that young with that type of savvy out there. I am kind of in awe of it; it's pretty amazing."
On Rebecca Walter's being the Big Ten champion ... "She had the look this morning. I felt pretty confident that she was going to get in the hunt and compete for the crown. You can't sell her short. She has the ability to be as good as anybody we have ever had here. I am very proud of her."
On the comparisons to former Michigan great Katie McGregor ... "Her (Rebecca's) ferocity on the course is the same as Katie's. She just takes a different approach to doing it. Becca's kind of a silent assassin. She has got that twinkle in her eye that tells you, 'Okay, I am coming and I am ready.'"
On winning back-to-back Big Ten cross country titles and extending Michigan's track and field/cross country streak to six conference titles ... "It's really special. I was raised on this legacy of the Big Ten being really important. When Coach (James) Henry (Michigan women's track and field head coach) and I were here as student-athletes, these are the things that we remember. I still remember mine from 30 years ago, and I know that our kids now will do the same. It is the work you put in as a team that makes days like this possible. I am just really happy for them and this program."
Big Ten Champion Rebecca Walter
On the race ... "I didn't have a game plan coming in. I didn't know what was going to happen. I just knew I wanted to run hard. (Michelle) Carson did not want me to lead her. Every time I went next to her, she went back in front of me. I couldn't take it anymore, so I said, 'I am going to pass her or something is going to fall apart.' It happened to be when I passed through this amazing line of Michigan cheerleaders and that really got me going. So, I went hard and it felt great. The next thing I remember was people yelling that she was tiring and that was what I needed to hear."
On gaining strength as the race went on .. "It was hurting me to run right next to her. It was beating me into the ground how she was always right there. Knowing that she was tiring at the end and I wasn't gave me more strength and helped me through the race."
On being a Big Ten champion ... "It is just now sinking in. When I crossed the finish line I thought, 'Wow' ... It is sinking in more and more now and it's just really exciting."
Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
