Weekly Release #7
10/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 29 -- at Big Ten Championships (Bloomington, Ind.), 10:45 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 11 -- at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Bowling Green, Ohio), 11:30 a.m.
Monday, Nov. 20 -- at NCAA Championships (Terre Haute, Ind.), Noon
This Week: Big Ten Championships
The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to try and capture its fifth straight Big Ten championship on Sunday (Oct. 29). The 6,000-meter meet at will be held at the Indiana Cross Country Course, where Michigan ran earlier this year in the Indiana Open. The race is scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m.
The Wolverines who will be running at the Big Ten Championships are: freshman Eileen Creutz (Saline, Mich./Saline), junior/sophomore Nicole Edwards (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey), fifth-year senior Arianne Field (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett), grad/senior Katie Gwyther (Madison, N.H./Kennett), junior Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's), freshman Jenny Morgan (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston), junior/sophomore Claire Otwell (Traverse City, Mich./Central), junior Elisabeth Uible (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill), and senior/junior Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child).
Last Time at the Big Ten Championships
Last year at the Big Ten Championships (Oct. 30, 2005), Michigan placed all five runners among the top 14 -- finishing within 37 seconds of each other -- as the Wolverines captured their fourth consecutive conference team title at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn. U-M's total of 42 points gave the Wolverines an 18-point margin of victory over Illinois.
The Wolverines return 12 letterwinners from last year's roster, including first team All-Big Ten runners Alyson Kohlmeier and Erin Webster, in addition to second team All-Big Ten runners Nicole Edwards and Arianne Field.
Last Week: EMU Classic
Last Friday (Oct. 20) Michigan ran at the EMU Classic in Dexter, Mich. Leading the Wolverines in the non-scoring meet was junior/sophomore Natasha Luppov (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron), who took sixth place overall with a time of 18:28. Michigan had all four runners finish in the top 16 spots in the 38-person field.
Big Ten Runner of the Week
Erin Webster was named Big Ten Conference Runner of the Week twice this season. Webster received the honors after her winning performance at the Indiana Open (Sept. 9) and for her fourth-place finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 14).
USTFCCCA Division I Women's Poll (10/17/06)
Rank, Team Points 1. Stanford 390 2. North Carolina State 376 3. MICHIGAN 354.5 4. Arkansas 353 5. Wisconsin 342.5 6. Minnesota 327 7. UC Santa Barbara 314 8. Arizona State 296 9. Illinois 286 10. Colorado 274 11. BYU 259 12. Providence 245 13. Michigan State 232 14. Florida State 215 15. Tennessee 190 16. Duke 185 17. Florida 173 18. Georgetown 162 19. Iona 158 20. Georgia 150 21. Texas Tech 140 22. Princeton 134 23. Iowa 114 24. Colorado State 92 25. Virginia 74 26. Boston University 56 27. Butler 37 28. Boston College 35 29. Virginia Tech 34 30. Baylor 23
Leaders and Best in Academics
The 2005 Michigan women's cross country team earned the 2005-06 Leaders and Best Award, given to the U-M varsity team with the highest grade point average. It's the fourth year in a row that coach Mike McGuire's squad has received the honor.
The Mike McGuire File
Mike McGuire is in his 15th season as a head coach for the Michigan women's cross country team. In 2005, Michigan won the Big Ten championship under McGuire, as well as the 2005 NCAA Great Lakes Regional championship. For his accomplishments, he received Big Ten Coach of the Year honors for the seventh time, his fourth straight (2002-05) following a three-peat from 1992-94. In his first four seasons, McGuire won three consecutive Big Ten and NCAA District IV team championships, and the Wolverines finished as high as second (1994) at the NCAA Championships. McGuire's teams have 13 top-two finishes in 14 seasons at the Big Ten Championships and 10 top-two finishes at the regional championships, winning the regional meet in 1993, '94, '95, 2004, and '05. His teams have finished among the nation's top 10 seven times at the NCAA Championships. McGuire has helped 49 cross country and track athletes earn All-America honors, and has coached five Big Ten individual champions and five Big Ten freshmen of the year.
What's Next
Next week, the Wolverines go for their third consecutive NCAA Great Lakes Regional title, traveling to Bowling Green, Ohio, for the regional meet on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 11:30 a.m.
Contact: Tim Trunzo (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
