The Michigan men's cross country team will get one more shot at conference nemesis Wisconsin this weekend at the NCAA District V Championships.
Big Ten powerhouses Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan , along with Ohio and Notre Dame, will head the pack of 38 teams Saturday in Champaign.
The top three teams will move onto the NCAA championships on Nov. 23.
There is a possibility that a fourth team will be allowed to race.
"I'm not even considering the possibility of us not going (to the NCAA championships) as a team," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said.
Based on regular-season events, Michigan is the second-best team in its district. The Wolverines narrowly lost to Wisconsin in the Big Ten championships on Nov. 2.
"We didn't run well last meet," Warhurst said. "But we can't cry over spilled milk.
"That's what being athletes is all about. We know what we have to do."
What Michigan has to do is fill in a couple patches at the bottom of its ship.
The Wolverines' top three runners have been consistent all season.
The rest have shown glimpses of brilliance but did not race up to expectations against Wisconsin, the most crucial race thus far.
Between Jay Cantin, Steve Lawrence, Jeff Beuche and Dave Barnett, two will need to race up to potential for any hope of victory.
"We can't let the No. 1 and 2 runners from the weaker schools separate our fourth and fifth guys," Warhurst said.
"It'll take under 90 points to make it to nationals, so we'll need five runners in the top 40."
With quality outings from the fourth- and fifth-place runners, Michigan could win its first district championship.
The top three spots are not a great area of concern.
Michigan's top-three runners have consistently anchored the team to solid performances.
In John Mortimer, No. 1 at Big Tens, and Scott MacDonald, No. 2 at Big Tens, the Wolverines have the backbone to upset Wisconsin.
Mortimer is still a sophomore, so the future looks bright.
"The rest of our guys just need to run with the competition man-for-man because John and Scott will clean up in the front," Warhurst said. "They should both finish in the top three."
Mortimer has won all but one race this season. His one loss came against Notre Dame.
MacDonald didn't finish quite as high earlier in the season against the Fighting Irish, but he has improved since then.
"Scott was a different runner six weeks ago," Warhurst said. "He's in much better shape now."
Michigan got a big surprise from Todd Snyder two weeks ago when he placed ninth at the Big Ten championships.
"It would be nice to get Todd in the top 15 again," Warhurst said.
Continued stellar performances from Snyder, MacDonald and Mortimer, along with improvement from the fourth and fifth spots, could propel Michigan to a long awaited upset over the Badgers.
"We've finished second to Wisconsin most years since I've been here," Warhurst said.
After slipping to fourth last year, Michigan has a chance to turn history around Saturday.