NCAAs next for men's harriers

Waiting. It's the hardest thing to do when a team knows it's ready right now.

Well, the waiting is over for the Michigan men's cross country team. The Wolverines have been waiting all season for today's race.

Michigan travels to Furman, S.C., to compete in the fourth oldest championship sanctioned by the NCAA - it is the 60th anniversary of the NCAA men's cross country championship.

At the beginning of the season, Michigan coach Ron Warhurst set three goals for his team. The first was to win the Big Ten championship. Done. The second was to win NCAA Division IV districts. Done. The final goal was to finish in the top five at NCAA championships.

Today, the Wolverines have a chance to accomplish their final goal and cap off a phenomenal season.

The Wolverines' best finish ever at NCAA championships occurred in 1992, when they finished fifth.

"We've got a great chance to finish better than fifth," Warhurst said. "We would have to self-destruct to finish any worse."

Since the beginning of October, the Wolverines have been the No. 3 team in the nation. The Wolverines finished with only 21 points last week, one of District IV's lowest scores ever. Michigan placed five runners in the top eight and finished 53 points ahead of second-place Wisconsin. Despite these facts, the Wolverines dropped in the polls to No. 4.

Colorado jumped over the Wolverines due to its regional win, in which the Buffaloes scored 15 points. Even with the one-spot drop, however, Michigan picked up ground on No. 1 Stanford.

"The polls really don't mean that much this week," junior Chris Bunt said.

The drop in the polls has made the Wolverines even more anxious and hungrier for today's race.

"The team isn't getting any respect," Warhurst said. "I think the guys are ready to go down there and prove that they are for real."

And Michigan is definitely ready.

"Kevin Sullivan talked to me the other day and said that he felt the team was ready now," Warhurst said. "When the old man says their ready, it's time to go."

"It's gonna' be fun," senior Don McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin, who has consistently finished in the top-20 all year, was forced to drop out of last week's regional race. His calf muscle tightened up and he was diagnosed with a pulled calf muscle.

"I ran on it for the first time Thursday and it feels pretty good," McLaughlin said. "It will definitely be ready for Monday."

Another member of the team finally got over a month-long illness. Junior Todd Snyder battled bronchitis and other flu-like symptoms during October and November and finally was able to overcome them last week.

Snyder had been consistently finishing as the third or fourth Wolverine, but was several seconds behind the leaders. Last week, he finished as the fourth-place runner in the entire field and finished only a couple of seconds behind his teammates of Sullivan and John Mortimer.

Now that the Wolverines are back to 100 percent, their chances of accomplishing their final goal is foreseeable.

In fact, the Wolverines believe that with the motivation to prove their doubters wrong accompanied by their excitement and experience, the results could exceed their original goals.

"We've got a chance to win this thing," Bunt said.

11-24-97