Women's cross country hopes to keep momentum at Sam Bell

Coming off convincing victories in its first two meets, the Michigan women's cross country team has built up a good head of steam going into this weekend's Sam Bell Invitational, hosted by Indiana.

But the Wolverines will have their winning streak tested by their toughest opposition of the season. Along with Michigan and Indiana, 21 other schools have committed to the weekend in Bloomington so far, including Arkansas, North Carolina State and West Virginia.

"Coach likes to show us the top teams from across the country so that we see what it takes to be a top team - almost like a challenge from him," Michigan's Lisa Ouellet said.

McGuire is well aware of the talent that will be toeing the line with Michigan this Saturday.

"No question, Arkansas will be our toughest opposition," Michigan coach Mike McGuire said. "They were sixth in the NCAAs last year, and they're bringing back most of their people.

"N.C. State is also a top-10 team. They're ranked ahead of us right now. This is our toughest meet to date, so we're going to get a good idea of where we're at."

The third-ranked Razorbacks boast a pair of senior studs in Jessica Dailey and Amy Yoder. Yoder is a two-time Southeastern Conference champion, while All-America Dailey was runner-up in last year's SEC Championships. Last year, the dynamic duo helped Arkansas win their sixth SEC title in eight years and its eighth NCAA regional title in nine years.

"Even if we don't defeat Arkansas, it will be a great feat to be right behind them," Ouellet said. "Each of us also needs to challenge ourselves to work individually to compete. I know women on Arkansas that I would love to beat."

North Carolina State returns six runners who have won all-conference accolades at some point during their careers. The Wolfpack has dominated the conference since 1982, winning 13 of the last 15 ACC championships. A talented corps of veterans are hoping to extend that streak, led by senior Meredith Faircloth, a two-time all-conference selection.

As in last week's event at Penn State, the Wolverines will have a chance this week to preview a course which will be the site of a championship meet later this season. Indiana will be hosting the NCAA Championships in mid-November, so the Sam Bell will give Michigan a sneak preview of what's to come.

"Aside from Elizabeth Kampfe, nobody on our team has run this course before, so this should be a good experience for them," McGuire said.

The tough competition does not faze the Wolverines. They did not plan to alter their practice schedule this week in anticipation of the Razorbacks, Wolfpack, or any others.

"We'll be running hard on Monday and Wednesday, but we won't be doing anything special for this week," McGuire said. "We have the week off next week, so that will give us a chance to rest. But we aren't training twice as hard for this weekend's meet or anything like that."

The week off will give the Wolverines a chance to recover from some nagging ailments which have bothered some of their top runners in the last two meets.

"Jane Martineau has a hamstring problem, and Katy Radkewich is fighting a sore back, but they should both be in for Saturday," McGuire said. "These kinds of injuries go along with running cross country, but there's nothing major to worry about."

Rather than worry about winning or losing, McGuire's main goal is to shrink the pack time between his first and fifth runners, which exceeded 30 seconds last weekend at State College.

"At Indiana, we hope to get that time down below 30 seconds," McGuire said. "One of the strong aspects of our team this year is its balance of runners, and in cross country running, success is predicated on a good group effort."

09-24-99