Today, the Michigan men's cross-country team will join a pack of about 250 runners in Bloomington to vie for the opportunity to be named NCAA Champions.
Cross-country meets, even championship meets, may not match the thrill of watching the grueling football match-up between Ohio State and Michigan.
It is unlikely that there will be a crowd of maniacal Michigan fans shouting "Sieve" at the other runners, and the football band won't be bussing down.
But for the Wolverines, today represents 30 minutes to show the world that the Michigan men's cross country team is still a national threat.
To the runners, today is the end of a season where expectations were few, and surprises were almost an everyday occurrence. Runners came from nowhere to almost single-handedly win a race, as sophomore Tom Caughlan did at the Big Ten Championships, a
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| DAVID KATZ/Daily The Michigan men's cross country team will be running for the national championship today in Bloomington. |
But today, at about 11:40 a.m., the team can judge its season as either a shockingly successful one, or a year when they didn't quite bring their A-games in the times that it mattered most.
Granted, the Wolverines are not expected to win the meet overall. Some programs around the nation - Arkansas, North Carolina State and Colorado - Michigan simply cannot match on paper. But the eighth-ranked Wolverines certainly have pride on the line.
"There's no reason why we can't perform better and have the best race of our season," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "That's the goal from the start - to have your best day at the end. I expect them to react the way they have the rest of the season - and that's to come out with flying colors."
An immediate goal for the Wolverines is to shut down their conference rivals, Wisconsin and Notre Dame, two teams that Michigan faced in the last two weeks with subpar results.
The Wolverines lost both weeks to Wisconsin and last week to the Fighting Irish.
For others, particularly Michigan's two senior stars, Cantin and Steven Lawrence, the meet poses an opportunity to end their times wearing the Michigan colors in memorable fashion.
"It's my last cross-country race for the school," Cantin said. "There's nothing I'd like more than to go out with a bang."
Such a case would not surprise Warhurst, who anticipates both Cantin and Lawrence finishing with the meet's top pack and making the top-20.
"I think that they're realistically thinking about being All-Americans," Warhurst said.
One particularly bright note for the team is that junior John Butsic will be returning to action today, after missing last week's race with an injury that had negatively affected his run at the Big Ten meet.
"We're ready to go," Warhurst said. "Everyone's healthy."
The coach also acknowledged the need for him to step back and let each team member adjust to the pressures alone. He's done all that he can do.
"I don't want to get them too excited," he said. "They're nervous enough."
One of Michigan's budding stars, sophomore Mark Pilja, asserted that the team's performance at the NCAA Regionals has no bearing on its ability to beat its two biggest rivals today.
"Last year, I think of the three meets, districts was our worst," he said. "If you run well at two of the three, that's good. One of them has to be a little bit more of a 'down' meet."
Such an answer probably would not suit Warhurst. Despite the popular opinion that the season was surprisingly successful, the coach adds that the season does not end until the runners cross the finish line later today. Nothing else matters.
"There's no reason for excuses for anything at this point," Warhurst said. "I refuse to let them come up with an excuse. They're good enough. I believe it, and they believe it."
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