Lehigh beckons men's cross country

Warhurst looking for big things in 25th season as Michigan's coach

Domination is a word often spoken around campus, usually referring to one of the major sports teams, such as hockey or football.

One team that did not get much word of mouth last year was the men's cross country team, which undoubtedly had one of the finest seasons of any Michigan sports team in recent memory.

Winning each and every one of their seven scored meets leading up to the NCAA Championships and placing a runner (either Kevin Sullivan or John Mortimer) first in each one, the Wolverines rivaled even the gridiron warriors for the title of most dominant Michigan team.

Unfortunately for these competitors, the ending was not quite as storybook as the one written in Pasadena.

The Wolverines finished fourth at the NCAAs, with Kevin Sullivan finishing the race in first place overall, winning an individual title to offset the pain of losing the overall one.

But last year's disappointment has fueled even more desire in this year's Michigan squad, and they hope to not only live up to last year's team, but to surpass them.

Living in the past, however, is an easy thing to do, and last weekend the Wolverines got their first wake-up call that this regular season will be no walk in the park. The sixth-ranked team finished second overall, finishing far behind first place and seventh-ranked Arizona in the overall standings at the Mountain West Classic.

Redemption is close at hand, however, as the Wolverines take their show on the road this weekend for a Saturday morning run at the Paul Short Invitational, held at Lehigh University. This weekend will be the first time the Wolverines participate in the annual event, which features 42 teams - including some Eastern powers like Georgetown and Villanova.

Also running this week are fellow Big Ten mates Penn State and Michigan State. The meet should be an early gauge as to how well the Wolverines can expect to perform at the Big Ten Championships, to be held at the Michigan Golf Course on Nov. 1.

Michigan coach Ron Warhurst says this season has special significance to him, since it is his 25th as Michigan's coach.

"It would be real nice to win it at home this year. Twenty-five years ago my first team won it at home, and a lot of them are coming back for a reunion, so it would have significance."

The key for the Wolverines this weekend will be finding consistency behind the top trio of John Mortimer, Todd Snyder and Steve Lawrence, who figure to be the top runners all season for Michigan.Warhurst is looking for junior Jay Cantin and redshirt freshman Mike Wisniewski to have big meets.

The Wolverines are focused and dedicated, and following last week's meet, the team woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning on Sunday for a 16-mile run before returning by plane to Ann Arbor. Warhurst does not see the early second-place finish as an indication for his team's season.

"It was only our first meet, and most of the other schools have already run competitively," he said. We are just now starting to get our legs under us."

The drop from sixth to seventh in the national rankings does not bother the team either, and the major goal is to have a solid run this weekend and build up confidence for the rest of the year.

10-01-98