Men's Cross Country, Mortimer Repeat at Maine Event

ORONO, Maine -- For the fourth consecutive year, a University of Michigan men's cross country runner has claimed the individual title at the University of Maine's Murray Keatinge Invitational, helping the sixth-ranked Wolverines repeat as the invitational champions. Senior John Mortimer (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry HS) successfully defended his crown from 1997, running the 8,000-meter course in 24:01.10 on Saturday (Oct. 10). Mortimer led a 1-2-3-6 Wolverine finish en route to a 27-point tally. The University of Iowa was second with 64 points.

Finishing right behind Mortimer was senior All-American Todd Snyder (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS). Coming off a win at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 3, Snyder finished second, just eight seconds off of Mortimer's pace. Junior Steve Lawrence (Consecon, Ontario/East Northumberland SS) rounded out the top three spots in 24:15.14. Michigan's other scorers were senior co-captain Don McLaughlin (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) in sixth place and sophomore Mike Wisniewski (Temperance, Mich./Bedford HS) in 15th.

Team Standings

    1. MICHIGAN              27
    2. Iowa                  64
    3. New Hampshire         76
    4. UCLA                  91
    5. Boston College       112
    6. Ball State           175
    7. Holy Cross           244
    8. Dalhousie Univ.      256
    9. Central Conn. State  269
   10. Vermont              272
   11. Maine                285

Top 5 Individuals

    1. John Mortimer, Michigan        24:01.10
    2. Todd Snyder, Michigan          24:09.39
    3. Steve Lawrence, Michigan       24:15.14
    4. Mark Hauser, UCLA              24:24.78
    5. Brian Shafer, Boston College   24:42.38

Other Michigan Finishes

    6. Don McLaughlin                 24:45.63
   15. Mike Wisniewski                25:05.77
   20. Mark Pilja                     25:16.32
   21. Chris Bunt                     25:10.02
   24. John Butsic                    25:22.12
   33. Tom Caughlan                   25:46.20
   60. Tom Stamboulian                26:33.88

NOTES

Mortimer won the 1997 Murray Keatinge Invitational with a course-record time of 23:42.5.

Michigan will host the Wolverine Interregional on Oct. 18 at the U-M Golf Course. The 10-team men's field includes No. 6 Michigan and No. 22 James Madison.