Weekly Release #5: U-M Readys for Pre-Nats
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Saturday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m. -- Pre-National Invitational (Terre Haute, Ind.)
The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team returns to the trail this week, traveling to Terre Haute, Ind., to run in the Pre-National Invitational on Saturday (Oct. 18)at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center . The Wolverines will compete against some of the top cross country teams in the nation on the course where the national championships will be run later this year. The event begins at 10 a.m. with six races during the day. Michigan will be sorted into one of the races later this week.
The Wolverines will do battle with 24 of the top 30 teams in the nation, including such highly ranked teams as No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Portland, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Iona College and No. 10 Stanford.
Wolverine to Watch
| Craig Forys(Howell, N.J./Colts Neck) has been one of the best Wolverine runners all season. The sophomore has finished in the top four in each of the three races he has run this season. Forys is a runner that seems to find another level during big races like the Pre-Nats, as was witnessed last year when he finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships to earn First Team All-Big Ten honors. |
Out In Front
The Wolverines have three racers that have found themselves very comfortable in the front of the pack no matter what race they are running. Senior Lex Williams(Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter), junior/senior Ciaran O'Lionaird(Cork, Ireland/De La Salle) and Craig Forys have all finished in the top four in each of the races they have run this season. Both Williams and O'Lionaird have picked up wins this season.
A Comfortable Setting
U-M has found success at the Pre-Nationals over the years, never finishing below seventh in the past five seasons. In 2004, Nate Brannan (2002-05) and Nick Willis (2003-05) finished second and third, respectively, for the best individual finishes in recent history.
Michigan Among Nation's Elite
In the USTFCCCA's first poll of the season, Michigan is ranked ninth in the nation and second in the Great Lakes Region. U-M is one of four Big Ten schools in the top 30, along with No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 14 Minnesota and No. 30 Michigan State.
| USTFCCCA Men's Division I Cross Country National Poll | ||||
| Ranking | Team (first place votes) | Region/Rank | Totals | Previous |
| 1 | Oregon - (11) | West-1 | 359 | 1 |
| 2 | Oklahoma State - (1) | Midwest-1 | 349 | 2 |
| 3 | Colorado | Mountain-1 | 322 | 3 |
| 4 | Portland | West-2 | 314 | 4 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | Great Lakes-1 | 313 | 5 |
| 6 | Alabama | South-1 | 293 | 6 |
| 7 | Iona College | Northeast-1 | 288 | 7 |
| 8 | Georgetown | Mid-Atlantic-1 | 261 | 8 |
| 9 | Michigan | Great Lakes-2 | 250 | 9 |
| 10 | Stanford | West-3 | 247 | 10 |
| 11 | Iowa State | Midwest-2 | 232 | 11 |
| 12 | Virginia | Southeast-1 | 214 | 12 |
| 13 | Florida State | South-3 | 208 | 13 |
| 14 | Minnesota | Midwest-3 | 200 | 14 |
| 15 | North Carolina State | Southeast-2 | 181 | 15 |
| 16 | Auburn | South-2 | 176 | 16 |
| Northern Arizona | Mountain-2 | 176 | 16 | |
| 18 | BYU | Mountain-3 | 170 | 18 |
| 19 | Tulsa | Midwest-4 | 142 | 19 |
| 20 | Texas A&M | South Central-2 | 121 | 20 |
| 21 | Texas | South Central-1 | 119 | 21 |
| 22 | Providence | Mid-Atlantic-3 | 110 | 22 |
| 23 | UCLA | West-4 | 89 | 23 |
| 24 | William & Mary | Southeast-3 | 77 | 24 |
| 25 | California | West-6 | 76 | 25 |
| 26 | Syracuse | Northeast-3 | 61 | 26 |
| 27 | Arkansas | South Central-3 | 47 | 27 |
| 28 | Villanova | Mid-Atlantic2 | 43 | 28 |
| 29 | Cal Poly | West-5 | 41 | 29 |
| 30 | Michigan State | Great Lakes-3 | 34 | 30 |
Last Time Out
Michigan finished ninth in the Notre Dame Invitational despite not running several of its top runners, including Lex Williams, Ciaran O'Lionaird(Cork, Ireland/De La Salle) and Craig Forys. Brandon Fellows (Mercer Island, Wash./Brother Rice) led the way for the Wolverines, finishing 22nd with a new personal course record of 24:12.
The Ron Warhurst File
This is U-M head coach Ron Warhurst's 35th season at the helm of the men's cross country program. Warhurst has won seven Big Ten Championships and two NCAA Regional Championships. He has 12 NCAA Championship top-10 finishes and 21 NCAA Regional Championship top-three finishes. In his 35 years Warhurst has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year four times and the NCAA Regional Coach of the year three times, including last season. Warhurst has coached 39 NCAA All-Americans and has a record of 2,823-595-7 at Michigan.
Upcoming Schedule
The Maize and Blue next travels down the road to Dexter, Mich., on Friday (Oct. 24) where the team will run in the EMU Fall Classic. The race is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
Contact: Joe Arancio (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
