McGregor shatters course record as women's cross country rolls

By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Writer

This early in the Michigan cross country season, the question is not "Did Katie McGregor win?" but "By how much?"

Saturday in Seattle, the answers for those two questions were "duh" and "a lot." And the Michigan women's team managed to fight off nine other cross country teams at the Sundodger Invitational and took its third meet title this season, defeating second place Washington 31-53.

The next closest team was Arizona State, with 115 points.

McGregor ran the best race of her career, 16:44, and Allison Noe finished her first of the season to close out Michigan's scorers at 17:43.

McGregor's time, which bested her previous best by four seconds, also established a new course record.

"It's a pretty established course," Michigan coach Mike McGuire said.

"A lot of good kids have run here ... She shattered (the record) - she didn't just break it." McGuire said. The previous course record was 17:01.

The fifth-ranked Wolverines defeated a Washington squad McGuire said was underrated at No. 15.

Citing the Huskies' earlier handling of then-No. 7 Oregon, and comparing it to Michigan's victory, McGuire felt the Wolverines "answered the bell."

"It's a stepping stone" to the rest of the season, McGuire said.

For Noe, who had to withdraw from a race earlier this season at Indiana State because of a pinched nerve running from her lower back to her left leg, it was the first step of the season.

And "it felt amazing" to finally be part of the team, she said.

Julie Froud was last season's usual number three, behind McGregor and Elizabeth Kampfe, who finished second amongst scored runners in 17:17. This season she's been working herself back into shape as she recovers from an Achilles' tendon injury suffered last winter.

Her body is healthy, and now she's working on getting the confident, killer instinct required to run cross county.

"I'm more nervous," Froud said. "I should be thinking about passing people."

Instead, when you've been out of racing for a while, doubt sets in and thoughts too often turn to the people behind you, not the ones in front.

"Running is an aggressive sport," if not physically, then mentally, Froud said. The right attitude, and the one she's trying to redicover, is the one that says, "Why not challenge them?"

This attitude might not work for McGregor.

Once you're ahead of everyone, you can't think about people in front of you. All that's left to race is the course itself. And sometimes, that's a good thing.

McGregor said she "had no choice" but to set the record.

"Once you got out there, there was no slowing down," she said.

The way the course was laid out, with a downhill stretch right after the start, and then a bottleneck, "I

"A lot of good kids have run here ... She shattered (the record) - she didn't just break it."

Michigan cross country coach

09-28-98