The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 22, 2003 - 3B Greenless wins Spartan invitational By Mustafizur Choudhury Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - The Michigan men's cross country team is showing signs of great improve- ment from last year, placing four runners in the top 10 at the non-scoring Spartan Invitational while resting its two best athletes. Of the six current run- ners who ran at this meet last year, four improved their times by 30 seconds or more. Tom Greenless, for the second consecutive meet, led all finishers across the line with a time of 24:35, which was 10 seconds ahead of Ohio State's Brian Olingger. "The wind was really bad," Greenless said. "But we ran well as a team and took control over the last two miles." Senior captain Nick Stanko and junior Tarn Leach ran stride for stride to the finish line, placing sixth and seventh, respectively. Rounding out the TOP FINISHERS 1. Tom Greenless, Michigan 24:35.1 2. Brian Olingger, Ohio State 24:45.7 3. Chad Theuerkom, Central Michigan 24:48.8 4. Dan Glaz, Ohio State 24:51.7 5. Jason Mueller, Michigan State 24:55.1 6. Nick Stanko, Michigan 24:66.7 7. Tarn Leach Michigan 24:57.4 8. Tristen Perlberg, Oakland 24:58.9 9. Rob Myers, Ohio State 25:01.5 10. Sean Moore, Michigan 25:04.2 11. Alex L'Heureux, Michigan 25:05.0 12. Brian Turner, Michigan 25:07.0 This one goes out to all you seniors;youfeel me? SETH LOWER/Daily Tom Greenless led the charge for Michigan at the Spartan Invitational, taking home top honors with a time of 24:35.1. Three other Wolverines placed in the top 10. top 10 in the 8,000-meter race was junior Sean Moore. "Compared to last year, everyone ran very well," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "Even with worse conditions, everyone had better times at this race than they did last year." Unpredictably cold weather and harsh winds provided an interesting challenge for No. 7 Michigan. Michigan's four top-10 finishers used a unique strategy to gain an edge on the competi- tion. They ran behind some Ohio State runners for most of the race, using them as human shields to block the strong, cold wind. With about a mile-and-a-half remaining, Greenless, Stanko, Leach and Moore positioned themselves to finish in the top 10. Once Greenless was securely in front, he held off his opponents to capture the individual title. "Tom Greenless has made a tremendous step for- ward from last year," Warhurst said. "He (bettered) his time from last year by almost a minute." With nine runners returning from last year's team, Warhurst is well aware that experience and depth are two of Michigan's best assets. To meet Warhurst's high expectations, the Wolverines prac- tice hard on a regular basis, sometimes running 15 miles in a single day. The team's strong perform- ance in this meet shows that it is much improved from last year when it was unranked at this time of the season. Michigan hopes to move up in the standings with the help of All-Americans Nate Brannen and Nick Willis, who sat out this race in order to pre- pare for the Great American Cross Country Festi- val in Cary, N. C., which takes place this weekend. J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH The SportsMonday Column EUGENE, Ore. - There are times when I just can't help taking off my journalist hat. Saturday around 4:30 p.m. PDT was one of those times. -An hour after Michigan's 31-27 loss to Oregon, I found myself walking down the middle of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Eugene during heavy post-game traffic. When I say "walking down the mid- dle;" I really mean it. Hit me, car. Please, hit me. At the time, it likely would have eased the pain. On the way from Eugene to Portland after the game, I couldn't even get satis- faction from seeing an Oregon fan pulled over by a cop on the side of Interstate 5. Criticize me. "It's just a football game," you're thinking. Sure, it is just a football game. But I'm a sen- ior, and unfortunately, I don't have a redshirt season to fall back on. This Michigan team, which seemed so promising, is my last chance to be a part of a national championship col- lege football team. It won't be the same when I'm an alum; you aren't a part of the magic. The realization that my school would not win a national title - without a miracle - in my four years began to sink in when this scrawny, freckly Oregon student came up to me on the Autzen Stadium field and yelled, "No national championship, Michigan!" I was wearing a tie and a press cre- dential, and the schmuck could still see right through me. He could tell by the numb look on my face. Not again. Not this team. Not this year. No Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve. No boiled crawfish, no beignets from Cafe Du Monde and did I men- tion no Bourbon Street? Say it ain't so, boys. Say it ain't so. You're probably wondering why this affects me so much. This is coming from a guy who made his college choice based on a variety of factors, but mostly, college football prowess. To make it into consideration, a col- lege had to have a top-20 program nationally. I chose Michigan over Texas, Penn State and Texas A&M, believing not only that Michigan had the best chance to win a national championship during my four years, but also that win- ning one here would be the most magi- cal experience of my life. It would have been magical because I could share it with all of you - with every random person on this campus that I've never met. That national cham- pionship would be ours, just as much as the team's. Seniors, I know you feel me here. Freshmen, most of you don't. And how could you be expected to understand? You've got three more years to win it all. There's no urgency. There's no pain in your stomach that creeps up every five or so minutes. You haven't gone through the past two days rolling through a nightmar- ish memory lane: "How could you fumble with a three-point lead when all you need is a first down (North- western freshman year)? How could you pass-interfere on fourth down when you're nowhere near the play (Michigan State sophomore year)? And then (same memory), how could you let that horrible chuck end up in T. J. Duckett's fat hands? How could you hold in the endzone for a safety and fumble three times (Notre Dame junior year)?" But Saturday's memory will be worse than all of those. I believed, espe- cially after Michigan annihilated Notre Dame 38-0, that this team could win a national championship. I believed these Wolverines were an Oklahoma or a Miami. I never felt that way before. From day one, all this group talked about was a national title - not a Rose Bowl. With this group, the Rose Bowl was a silver lining. Luckily, we seniors have seen it all before, so we have our coping strategies ready. Hit the bottle, hit the wall, hit the guy next to you. Hit something. The next part of the coping process is something I've bought into the past three years. Not this year. I know you're all thinking it. "We can still win the national championship. We just have to run the table, win the Big Ten and hope for a few losses at the top." Braylon Edwards started the mantra just minutes after the game. He said he's heard of teams that lost one game and made the national championship game. Sure, it's possible. But I've also heard of teams that find a way to win one nonconference road game in four years. I'm coming up with a much safer coping strategy for the rest of this sea- son: believe it when I see it. J Brady McCollough can be reached at bradymcc@umich.edu. Blue golfers settle for disappointing sixth By Devin Sullivan For the Daily EAST LANSING - The Michi- gan women's golf team opened its season this weekend at the Mary Fossum Invitational. The Wolverines went into the tournament with hopes of finishing in the top three. After the first 36 holes were played on Saturday, Michigan was well within striking distance. Despite being in 10th, the Wolverines were just five strokes behind second place. The Wolverines were able to move up yesterday, but did not finish as high as they had hoped, finishing tied for sixth with Notre Dame. Michigan coach Kathy Teichert was disappointed in the Wolverines' performance, considering the talent they displayed at times. The coach cited an inability to finish rounds well enough and poor short play as their biggest issues. "For some of the girls, their short game wasn't as good as it could be," said Teichert. Sophomore Amy Schmucker (77- 77-82 - 236), was tied for 19th at 10-over par after two rounds, but shot ten over yesterday. She started the round off well, going just 1-over par for the first nine holes, thanks to several amaz- ing sand shots. But the last few holes, her putting and short game cost her several strokes. "I made a lot of mental errors that cost strokes for the team," said Schmucker. Freshman.Brianna Broderick (81- 79-74 - 234) shot the Wolverines' low round and lowest overall score, ending tied for 21st. Despite their disappointing per- formance, the Wolverines remained in high spirits. Scores in the low 80s didn't keep senior Courtney Goebel (81-83-84 - 248) from laughing over the Wolverines' oddly colored uniforms. Instead of the traditional maize and blue, the Wolverines sported slightly off-blue polo shirts. "Go Mint!" Goebel said as the team waited for the award ceremony. Also competing were junior Laura Olin (75-82-78 - 235), senior Sarah Kruer (81-82-81 - 244), and freshman Ali Stinson (80-76-81 - 237). Teichert felt part of the problem was the lack of competition over the first month of the season. She is confident, though, that as the season progresses and the Wolverines gain more competitive experience, they will perform better . "We have a lot more talent then our scores indicate," said Teichert. The team hopes for a better out- come next week, as it heads down to Ohio State to compete at the Lady Northern Intercollegiate. DANNY MOLOSHOKDaily Michigan senior Laura Olin reads a putt from the rough. we-c-uldn 't-have-done-it-without-you summer interns The whole team at Capital One wants to thank our University of Michigan interns: Brad Belsky Business Analyst, major: Industrial and Operations Engineering Yunho Fong Business Analyst, major: Industrial and Operations Engineering Caris Wong Business Analyst, major: Industrial and Operations Engineering Emerson Wu Business Analyst, major: Electrical Engineering It's because of the hard work, smart thinking and outstanding talents of people like you that Capital One has become a financial services leader and a FORTUNE 500* company. Thanks again, and the very best of luck to you in the school year ahead. To learn more about becoming part of the Capital One team, visit us at the September 30 >! I