The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OLYMPIC SPORTS tainly winning Big Ten's has helped that confidence," Sullivan said. Michigan was set to compete at the NCAA Championships Nov. 21 in Louisville, Ky., after taking first at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Nov. 13 in Madison, Wis. Ferlic once again led the Maize and Blue, becoming U-M's first regional champion since Brannen in 2004. WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY LICKS ITS WOUNDS The highlight at the conference meet for the Wolverines came from junior Erin Finn, who took home her second individual Big Ten title. She had previously won in 2013, and joins Katie McGregor (1997-98) as the only runners in program history to win two individual conference crowns. Finn was named Big Ten Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year. "She's been consistent, and obvi- ously she's been outstanding, in the three years that she's been here," Mc- Guire said. "She's continuing to grow as a runner, and I think she's in good form." Finn shaved roughly 15 seconds off her previous 6,000-meter personal record and also bested her 2013 title- winning performance by one minute and four seconds. "Katie McGregor is still the mea- suring stick for distance runners in our program," McGuire said. "Erin is tracking along those lines. In her first few years, she — without question — has impacted the program at a higher level that Katie did." Finn was not the only runner to perform well. Juniors Jaimie Phelan (eighth) and Gina Serano (10th) both earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. "It's a collection of everybody car- rying their own weight," McGuire said. "The most important thing is going out and performing the way we've prepared. I think if we do that, we'll like our results going forward." Michigan enters the Nov. 21 NCAA Championships with positive mo- mentum after taking first place at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Nov. 13 in Madison, Wis. Finn led U-M across the finish line, finishing fifth, while Michigan placed five runners in the top 20. "We were solid but not fantas- tic," McGuire said. "This is a step in the right direction after the Big Ten meet. We need to close better, look- ing at the last few minutes of the race, but today was definitely a big improvement." SOCCER TEAMS MISS NCAA TOURNAMENT Michigan's men and women's soccer programs have existed at the same time for 16 seasons — the women's program preceded the men's team by six years, beginning in 1994 — and this year marks the sixth time that both programs missed the NCAA Tournament (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015). Chaka Daley, the second men's head coach in program history, just finished his fourth season at the helm with an 8-6-4 overall record after a