September 281998 - SportsMonday - The Michigan Daily - 5B
McGregor shatters course record
as women's cross country rolls
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Writer
This early in the Michigan cross country
season, the question is not "Did Katie
McGregor win?" but "By how much?"
Saturday in Seattle, the answers for those
two questions were "duh" and "a lot." And
the Michigan women's team managed to
fight off nine other cross country teams at
the Sundodger Invitational and took its third
meet title this season, defeating second place
Washington 31-53.
The next closest team was Arizona State,
with 115 points.
McGregor ran the best race of her career,
16:44, and Allison Noe finished her first of
the season to close out Michigan's scorers at
17:43.
McGregor's time, which bested her previ-
ous best by four seconds, also established a
new course record.
"It's a pretty established course,"
Michigan coach Mike McGuire said.
"A lot of good kids have run here ... She
shattered (the record) - she didn't just
break it." McGuire said. The previous course
record was 17:01.
The fifth-ranked Wolverines defeated a
Washington squad McGuire said was under-
rated at No. 15.
Citing the Huskies' earlier handling of
then-No. 7 Oregon, and comparing it to
Michigan's victory, McGuire felt the
Wolverines "answered the bell."
"It's a stepping stone" to the rest of the
season, McGuire said.
For Noe, who had to withdraw from a race
earlier this season at Indiana State because
of a pinched nerve running from her lower
back to her left leg, it was the first step of
the season.
And "it felt amazing" to finally be part of
the team, she said.
Julie Froud was last season's usual num-
ber three, behind McGregor and Elizabeth
Kampfe, who finished second amongst
scored runners in 17:17. This season she's
been working herself back into shape as she
recovers from an Achilles' tendon injury suf-
fered last winter.
Her body is healthy, and now she's work-
ing on getting the confident, killer instinct
required to run cross county.
"I'm more nervous," Froud said. "I should
be thinking about passing people."
Instead, when you've been out of racing
for a while, doubt sets in and thoughts too
often turn to the people behind you, not the
ones in front.
"Running is an aggressive sport," if not
physically, then mentally, Froud said. The
right attitude, and the one she's trying to
redicover, is the one that says, "Why not
challenge them?"
This attitude might not work for
McGregor.
Once you're ahead of everyone, you can't
think about people in front of you. All that's
left to race is the course itself. And some-
times, that's a good thing.
McGregor said she "had no choice" but to
set the record.
A lot of good kids
have run here..
She shattered (the
record) - she didn't
just break it."
- Mike McGuire
Michigan cross country coach
"Once you got out there, there was no
slowing down," she said.
The way the course was laid out, with a
downhill stretch right after the start, and then
a bottleneck, "I felt like everyone was sprint-
ing down the hill," McGregor said.
Then, an uphill stretch, and "you can't
slow down once you go uphill," McGregor
said.
And soon enough, the race was over -
McGregor won.
And the Wolverines came away with a big
chunk of confidence for the rest of the sea-
son.
"We've never been this strong," McGregor
said, noting her three previous years of expe-
rience.
Which brings up another question: What
about the Big Ten?
"If we could run the Big Ten
Championships tomorrow, I think we'd
slaughter them," McGregor said.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Katie McGregor notched the course record at the Sundodger invitational In Seattle. Her time of 16:44
bested the old record by 17 seconds. And, by the way, Michigan won the meet with 31 points.
?ack time costs 'M'
harriers in Montana
r-YCongregation
Seed of Abraham Zera Avraham
A Mesianicehish Congeigada n
By Chris Duprey ,
Daily Sports Writer
Until Saturday, the No. 6 Michigan
*en's cross country team hadn't tested
itself, even though the season was
approaching its halfway point.
The Wolverines' first test of the year
came at the Mountain West Classic in
Missoula, Mont., where they looked to
defend their 1997 team title. Chilly 45-
degree temperatures and more than
4,000 feet of elevation provided an
4nVsual, adverse atmosphere for racing.
\Vithout the graduated Kevin
liyan and a solid pack, Michigan fell
Vdefeat to No. 7 Arizona, settling
instead for second place with 85 points.
The Wildcats, whose top runner finished
iih scored 59 to win the meet.
4Michigan coach Ron Warhurst has
scheduled challenging races for his
squad, sacrificing near-certain victories
at lesser meets in return for more chal-
lenging competition.
"We thought we performed pretty
011," freshman Mark Pilja said.
"Arizona ran a great race. But 1 think
we'll peak at the right time. We've been
doing three hard workouts a week,
including a long run on Sundays."
One good sign for the Wolverines is
that John Mortimer is starting to assume
the No. I role that he has been groomed
far Mortimer finished in the middle of
,te pack at the Michigan Open,
t aigans intrasquad scrimmage, but
had been overtraining at the time.
Saturday's performance resembled the
consistent Mortimer that pushed
Sullivan to the limit in '97.
Mortimer's third-place finish in a
time of 24:40 for 8,000 meters was only
:16 off the pace of the winner, Bernard
Lagat of Washington State.
Todd Snyder and Steve Lawrence
were able to finish close together, giving
the Wolverines a chance to pull out the
victory. Snyder was able to grab seventh
place (24:48) and Lawrence was not far
behind in a time of 25:06 for 10th place.
But three runners don't make up the
score in cross country, and on Saturday,
Michigan's fourth and fifth runners were
unable to get ahead of the main pack.
Senior Don McLaughlin was only 28
seconds behind Lawrence, but that gap
was enough to allow 17 runners in
between the two Wolverines. Mike
Wisniewski finished out the scoring for
Michigan with his 48th-place finish
(26:05). last season's Mr. Consistency,
Jay Cantin, was a fraction behind.
Perhaps Michigan's best weapon this
season will be the committee of runners
available to be No. 5 on any given day.
With Cantin, Wisniewski, Pilja and
Chris Bunt all within 19 seconds of
each other, the Wolverines have an
excellent chance to improve their five-
man pack time and cut their score.
The Wolverines will have a prime
opportunity to make the needed adjust-
ments next Saturday at the Paul Short
Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa.
John Mortimer
has adapted nice-
ly to the No.
~role, but his third-
place finish was
not enough for
Michigan at the
Mountain West
Classic. The
Wolverines fin-
ished second to
Arizona.
, WARREN ZINN/Datty
"Believing that
Yeshua (Jesus)
is The
Promised Messiah"
Services
Sabbath - Saturdays at 10 a.m.
Rosh HaShama-Sun. 9/20,7 p.m.
Mon. 9/21, 10 a.m.
Yom Kippur- Tues. 9/29, 8 p.m.
Wed. 9/30,10 am.
Meeting at 683 Airport Blvd. Suite #3
in the Airport Plaza south of Briarwood
Dr. Mark Kinzer, Congregational Leader
For more information contact:
Congregation Zera Avraham
PO Box 2025, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 734-663-3573
1 ____ '
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