After just two meets so far this season, the Michigan women's cross country team has started off sprinting - with a first-place finish at each meet.
Led by senior All-America Katie McGregor and junior All-America Elizabeth Kampfe, the Wolverines are trying to build upon last season's second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, and their seventh-place finish at the NCAA tournament in Greenville, S. C.
But the road to nationals won't be so easy this year.
"There are a lot of things that are going to happen between now and the Big Ten meet," Michigan coach Mike McGuire said.
"We do have depth, we have people healthy, but we need to get people in better shape."
Although many of the previously injured athletes are healed this year, working them into the roster has been a challenge.
Such now-healthy athletes include freshman Katy Radkewich, sophomore Julie Froud and junior Allison Noe.
Anytime teams deal with bringing in so many previously-injured athletes, the main focus is to get their abilities back to competition level, McGuire said.
"All you can ask people to do is to compete to the best of their ability and do the best they can under the weather conditions," McGuire said.
"Once they get back in shape, they're going to be the difference between a good team and a very good team."
Integral to the success of the team have been McGregor and Kampfe.
In the past two meets, McGregor has come in first, closely followed by Kampfe each time.
Last year in the Big Ten Championships as well as the NCAA Region IV Championships, McGregor and Kampfe took the top two spots.
"Just seeing the dedication that they have and how hard-working they are is a motivator," Radkewich said. "It shows how hard work pays off."
In addition to the leadership skills of Kampfe and McGregor, fifth-year senior Michelle Slater has added her own talent to the team, both as a leader and competitor - even if she hasn't finished as high as Kampfe or McGregor.
Slater came in sixth place at both the Sycamore Pride and Bowling Green meets.
Between the three upperclassmen, their leadership has been a big part of the development of their younger teammates.
"They keep reminding us of our goals and what we're actually doing it for," Radkewich said.
Although Kampfe, Slater and McGregor tend to lead the team both in practice and in the meets, talent resides in the younger runners as well.
Despite coming back from massive injuries, Radkewich has shown her potential as a leader with a third-place finish at Indiana State, followed by her fifth-place finish at Bowling Green.
"Katy has run at higher levels than the level she's running now," McGuire said.
"I'm very comfortable with her performance relative to the circumstances, and her progress over the last few weeks shows she has the potential to race more effectively."
Other big finishers among the younger runners include sophomore Katie Clifford, who took a seventh-place finish at Sycamore Pride and a 14th-place finish at Bowling Green. Freshman Katie Ryan registered a ninth-place finish at Sycamore. She also took a 13th place crown at Bowling Green.
"We lose two seniors this year," McGuire said.
"People have to assume the role. It's like training your second-string quarterback.
"Eventually they're going to have to step up, and we have people who have the ability to step up if they put in the training time."
09-23-98
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