Minus Pilja and Cook, Harriers place fourth

By Jeb Singer

Daily Sports Writer

The results of the Central Collegiate Championships at Mount Pleasant certainly suggested that the Michigan men's cross country team was not at full strength.

The Wolverines finished fourth out of seven teams, losing to three in-state opponents: Eastern, Central and Western Michigan.

While these are not the results expected out of a team that has won two of the past three Big Ten Championships and finished in the top five at the NCAA Championships each year, they are not reason for major concern.

"Friday was a meet scheduled for younger classmen to race," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "We didn't run four out of our top five runners. That's the chance you take."

On the bright side Michigan did run as a pack, which was the hope prior to the meet. The top seven finishers were within a 38-second span. David Sage, Tom Greenless, Nate Hoffman and Aaron Lindell all finished in the top 20 overall.

Of Michigan's top seven, all except for Hoffman are freshmen.

In cross country no single meet during the season carries much weight. Rather they are all chances to compete and train for the end-of-the-season championship meets.

"We go to the Big Ten Championship on Oct. 29, whatever we do on that day counts," Warhurst said. "In classes, quizzes may be worth 5 percent of the grade and the exam 95 percent. In our situation the final is worth 100 percent."

While this year's team will not solidify its legacy any time soon, the Wolverines do have short term and long- term goals towards which they are working. One of them can be accomplished next week at the Murray Keatinge Invitational in Orono, Maine.

"I'd like to win the meet on Saturday," Warhurst said. "A win will give the team a lot of pride and confidence. It is tough to get beat and still stay confident."

Up to this point in the season, Michigan's results have not been suggestive of the same type of success that teams over the past couple of years have produced. But part of that can be attributed to its strenuous training regime which has included lots of hills and long runs.

"This week is sort of a transition week. We won't do as much heavy legs," Warhurst said. "It's awful early to predict how these kids will respond to resting."

With top runners coming off injuries, the results next week should improve. Michigan will have junior Mark Pilja and sophomore David Cook running, both of whom regularly finish in the top five on the team. At the Sundoger Invitational, two weeks ago, Pilja was the top Michigan finisher and overall champion.

"These kids do have a lot of ability," Warhurst said. "They definitely will run better than they did last Friday."

The runners hope to prove their coach correct with a stronger performance next week.

"We have three hard weeks of training ahead of us," Warhurst said. "It doesn't matter what happens until the Big Tens. We have to run well in the Big Tens and districts in order to qualify for nationals. We have to get there."