Pilja quietly leads harriers by example

Despite success this season, junior teaches teammates never to be satisfied

BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily

Despite not having lost a race since Sept. 5 when he finished second to teammate Mike Wisnewski, junior Mark Pilja is never satisfied with his own success.

By Jeb Singer

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan men's cross country team has yet to elect a captain, but once the gun goes off it's been clear that junior Mark Pilja is the leader.

Pilja has won every single race he has run since Sept 5. On Sept. 5, in his most disappointing finish of the season, Pilja came in second to his own teammate, redshirt Mike Wisnewski. One would expect Pilja to be satisfied with the way the season has gone. But that is not how Pilja works.

"Looking at each race individually, I've always found something that I could do better," Pilja said . "The same goes for every practice. I can never think of a time that I was totally satisfied."

Over the course of his career, Pilja's accomplishments have included five state titles, a third-place finish in high school nationals and an All-Big Ten second team performance last year to go along with the three victories this season. So while Pilja's coaches and teammates have presumably been more than satisfield, Pilja's lack of satisfiction has proven an effective tool.

Whether or not he is selected captain is not of primary concern to the junior right now. He acknowledges that teammates such as Tom Caughlan and Nate Hoffman have been the vocal leaders on this team. And there is no reason to believe that Pilja won't continue running at his blistering pace. With Big Tens coming up on Oct. 29, it is vital that the rest of the team does a good job of keeping pace and running in a pack.

"They've been packing it up in practice and I think they will do so in Big Ten's," Pilja said. "The guys won't be intimidated by the situation."

Part of the issue for the Wolverines is that they are a young team. The freshmen have likely never endured the level of intense training which is expected of them at the college level. But, they can not use their first year as a transition period because many of them are among the fastest runners on the roster. Mason Ward, John Hughes, David Sage and Thomas Greenless have finished in the top five during various races this season.

"This freshman class is the best that I've seen since I've been here," said Pilja. "David Sage is suprising a lot of people with his strong running."

Comparing the times of these freshmen to when Pilja was a freshman, it is evident why Pilja is singing their praises. Tom Greenless finished the home course 30 seconds faster than Pilja did two years ago and Hughes was only three seconds slower than Pilja was. At Maine, all the freshmen ran faster than Pilja did two years ago.

The youngsters have established high expectations. Maybe they will have monster winning streaks of their own when they are juniors. But, they have to remember one policy of this year's leader.

Never be satisfied.