Ornelas Claims First Career Win at Michigan Open

Friday, September 2

Dexter, Mich.

4:30 PM

Michigan

Michigan Open

9/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country

Sept. 2, 2011

• Photo Gallery

Site: Dexter, Mich. (Hudson Mills Metropark)
Meet: Michigan Open (5,000 Meters)
U-M Finish: Non-scoring
Top U-M Individual: Zach Ornelas, 1st (15:35.21)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Sept. 16 -- at Illinois Orange & Blue Preview (Urbana, Ill.), 5:15 p.m. CDT

DEXTER, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's cross country team kicked off its 2011 season with the annual Michigan Open on Friday (Sept. 2) at Hudson Mills Metropark. The top four finishers were sporting the Maize and Blue.

Junior Zach Ornelas (Cedar Park, Texas/Vista Ridge HS) separated himself from the pack during the final stretch to secure the first-place finish -- the first cross country win of his collegiate career -- with a time of 15:35.21. Senior/junior Derek Henning (Alanson, Mich./Petoskey HS), the 2010 Michigan Open champion, followed Ornelas across the finish line at 15:47.84. Two local harriers claimed Michigan's third and fourth spots. Sophomore Nick Kern (Ann Arbor, Mich. /Pioneer) and Nathan Karr (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) ran times of 16:13.09 and 16:18.55, respectively.

The Wolverines will have two weeks to prepare for their next meet on Friday, Sept. 16, at the Illinois Orange & Blue Preview in Urbana, Ill. The 8,000-meter event will give the Maize and Blue a chance to preview the course that will be used for Big Ten Championships later in the season. The race is slated to begin at 5:15 p.m. CDT at the University of Illinois Arboretum.

Complete Results

 1. Zach Ornelas, U-M             15:35.21 2. Derek Henning, U-M            15:47.84 3. Nick Kern, U-M                16:02.57 4. Nathan Karr, U-M              16:13.09 5. Justin Krauss, unattached     16:18.55 6. James Yau, U-M                16:19.41 7. Josh Partdidge, unattached    16:32.25 8. Sean Bone, unattached         16:43.56 9. Garrett Cullen, unattached    16:54.3510. Adam Kern, unattached         17:00.1211. Justin Waraniak, unattached   17:13.2712. William Kane, unattached      17:30.5713. Ariel Schorr, unattached      17:40.5914. Will Cooney, unattached       17:53.5315. Brian Beecher, unattached     18:02.8716. Lawrence Jajou, unattached    18:06.7217. James Adams, unattached       18:23.1218. David Wallington, unattached  18:33.8519. Joseph Sedlak, unattached     19:05.20

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Alex Gibby
On the success of preseason camp ... "Camp was a dramatic departure from where we were last year. Guys came back prepared. The freshmen were a welcome edition. They added energy and quality runners for us. The experience, for me, was a very positive one. We were able to get the work done at the rate we wanted to. We came out of it healthy and ready to progress, so I was really pleased. We've definitely put ourselves in a position where we're ready to take some necessary steps to take us toward Big Ten relevancy and back at the NCAA Championships."

U-M Junior Zach Ornelas
On how preseason camp translated into today's meet ... "The past week has been a really great week of training. We all got to meet the new freshmen on the team. Up in Northern Michigan we had perfect training weather and a perfect training setup. The freshmen got to know what Coach Gibby is all about and they got to see our first group of guys that have been with Coach Gibby for a while demonstrating what he's all about. It's been really great leading up to this time trial. We were all fairly ready for today. We were coming off a pretty high-mileage week with a hard workout earlier in the week. We knew it was going to be hot, so we knew we just had to put in an honest effort today. I think everyone ran what they wanted to for the most part. All in all, it was a good day for Michigan. We are looking much better than we did last year, so it's definitely going to be a great year for the Wolverines."

On starting off the season with the Michigan Open ... "This is a good meet to shake some cob webs off without the major pressure of a large invitational. Out here we can go out and put in a solid effort with just our teammates cheering us on. It's kind of a low pressure atmosphere. It's a first good first test as we begin to look further down the road at bigger challenges we're going to have. Our main focus is on Big Tens, so we're not going to put too much weight on us yet."

Contact: Whitney Dixon (734) 763-4423