Michigan men's cross country coach Ron Warhurst will only send his second team to Ypsilanti for tomorrow's Eastern Michigan Classic.
"We become the varsity for this week," junior Cory Brown said. "Just like any other race, the top five runners (for Michigan) will score."
The top varsity runners will rest in preparation for the Big Ten championship meet Nov. 2 at Indiana.
"(The first team) will be there in the cheering section, though," Warhurst said. "It'll give us a chance to see the guys who haven't had much action this year."
Much of the second team, however, did see action last Sunday at the Michigan Interregional.
Last weekend, Chris Bunt (No. 58), Mike Mahler (No. 59), Steve Kafka (No. 60), Alex Towbin (No. 61) and Tom Stamboulian (No. 64) all finished near the bottom of the pack. They will run Friday along with Brown, Kevin Luoma, Eric Sutherland, Kurt Laansma and Don McLaughlin.
Unlike the rest of the group, McLaughlin looks to be an integral part of Warhurst's varsity team in the future. After finishing in the Wolverines' top seven in 1995, he is redshirting this year due to a stress fracture in his femur.
Even though Warhurst doesn't have high expectations for his second team, he isn't ruling out a role for them in the future. The longtime coach has seen second-team runners work their way up to the varsity level before.
"I like pleasant surprises," Warhurst said. "I've seen some big turnarounds emotionally, where guys just come out of nowhere in one year."
There is an obvious difference in the talent level, however, between the varsity and the second team.
"Cracking next year's top five would be virtually impossible," Brown said. "But being in the top seven or nine on the team is possible."
Michigan's second squad will face Windsor and Eastern Michigan's full teams, as well as runners from several community colleges. Even without their top runners, the Wolverines should finish among the top three teams.
"Our second team's top five probably doesn't have the talent of Eastern's top five," Brown said. "But if we race as well as we can, we should be competitive."
Eastern's course has been moved to a nearby park this year, so it should be more challenging. Last year's Eastern Michigan Classic was held on a golf course.
Hilly terrain could cause problems tomorrow for some Michigan runners. A few of the Wolverines, like Brown, are used to running shorter distances for track season. The fall cross country season is just a way to stay in shape for them.
Meanwhile, the varsity is looking forward to the Big Ten championships at Indiana a week from Saturday.
"We're trying not to get too nervous about it," Warhurst said. "It's still more than a week away."
Michigan will be trying to achieve its goal of the entire season - knocking off Wisconsin, the two-time defending Big Ten champions.
"We're going to train hard Saturday and Tuesday then go a little bit easier in the days before the championship," Warhurst said.
DAMIAN PETRESCU/Daily
Michigan sophomore Todd Snyder (left) and freshman Steve Lawrence (middle) will sit out tomorrow's meet, allowing second-team runners to see action.