Michigan
Spartan Invitational
Wolverines Run Over Competition at Spartan Invitational
9/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Meet: Michigan Open (8,000 Meters)
U-M Finish: Non-scoring
Top U-M Individual: Ciaran O'Lionaird, 1st (24:44)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Sept. 20 -- at Br. Doyle Meet of Champions (New York City, N.Y.)
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The University of Michigan men's cross country team had eight runners among the top-12 finishers with Ciaran O'Lionaird taking first place as the Wolverines cruised at the Spartan Invitational on Friday afternoon (Sept. 12) at Michigan State's Forest Akers East Golf Course.
Michigan claimed the top four spots in the 8,000-meter race and was led by junior/sophomore Ciaran O'Lionaird(Cork, Ireland/De La Salle), who crossed the line first with a time of 24:44 to improve on his third-place finish at the season-opening Michigan Open. He was quickly followed by senior Lex Williams(Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter), who won the Michigan Open, in second (24:52), sophomore Craig Forys(Howell, N.J./Colts Neck) in third (25:00) and senior/junior Sean McNamara(Elmhurst, Ill./York) in fourth (25:05).
Other Maize and Blue runners in the front group included junior/sophomore Peter Christmas(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) in seventh (25:18), senior/junior Brandon Fellows(Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) in 10th (25:25), senior/junior John Black(Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) in 11th (25:25) and fifth-year senior Seth Thibodeau(Milford, Mich./Milford) in 12th (25:26).
Just 42 seconds separated U-M's top-eight runners as the Wolverines came out strong and ran together as a group near the front of the pack through the first 5,000-meters before making their move and pulling away over the final 3,000-meters.
Michigan continues its challenging schedule next Saturday (Sept. 20), traveling to New York City, N.Y., to run in the Br. Doyle Meet of Champions. The race, which is being run in Van Cortlandt Park, will begin at 10:15 a.m.
Top 10 Individuals
1. Ciaran O'Lionaird, U-M 24:44 2. Lex Williams, U-M 24:52 3. Craig Forys, U-M 25:00 4. Sean McNamara, U-M 25:05 5. Spencer Beatty, Michigan State 25:12 6. Adam Sprangel, Michigan State 25:14 7. Peter Christmas, U-M 25:18 8. Joseph Dimambro, Michigan State 25:22 9. Shane Knoll, Michigan State 25:22 10. Brandon Fellows, U-M 25:25
Michigan Individuals
11. John Black 25:25
12. Seth Thibodeau 25:26 18. Tony Nalli 25:43 20. Michael Dobmeier 25:50 34. Bobby Aprill 26:18 70. Mark Pokora 27:33
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On the strategy for the race... "The plan to was to stay together for 5,000-meters as close to the front as we could and then get it going and pick up the tempo. We are trying to establish a race from the group mentality. We had a 20-second split for first through fourth at the end which is good considering we started slow and ran hard at the end."
U-M Junior/Sophomore Ciaran O'Lionaird
On developing a race strategy this season... "We are racing a lot this year. We want to get used to tactical situations that might come up on a cross country course. You don't know whether it's hot and humid, or there could be a storm, there could be hail, or there could be snow come Nationals in Terre Haute. Today was a tactical exercise for us."
Contact: Joe Arancio (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
