Michigan Head Coach Mike McGuire on his No. 1-Ranked Wolverines

NEW ORLEANS—Mike McGuire spent the entire 1980s building a coaching résumé as an assistant at Kansas and Eastern Michigan. That decade, though, is the very slim serving of meat between the two enormous Michigan-flavored slices of bread that have constituted McGuire’s adult life. He ran for the Wolverines from 1976-79, then returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 1990.

In 22 seasons with McGuire at the helm, the Michigan women have won nine Big Ten cross country championships. Ten of the last thirteen (including the last two) conference titles belong to Michigan or in-state rival Michigan State, which are both ranked in the top six in the preseason coaches’ poll. In fact, McGuire’s Wolverines are, for the first time in school history, ranked No. 1.

That ranking is on the strength of returning the top eight runners from a squad that finished fourth at NCAAs last fall. The last two years, those runners have outperformed their ranking at nationals; that will be pretty hard to do this fall. McGuire and I talked on Labor Day about the work his team faces this fall.

Mike McGuire
Courtesy: Michigan

DY: Does coming into the season ranked No. 1 create extra pressure or expectations? If that’s the case, how do you deal with it as a coach?

MM: Obviously, we were aware that we’d be ranked pretty high, based on having everyone back and that a few of our women had really outstanding outdoor track seasons. We’re not overly caught up in it.  If we stay healthy and focused— I know we’ll keep our focus—we have a shot at a great season, and that’s all you can ask for.

I’m confident that we’ll handle it well.  And it’s a fluid situation, being ranked No. 1; it won’t necessarily left.  There are six other teams, maybe even more, that are in the same category as us. There’s another team in our state that’s going to be pretty good.

DY: That other team being Michigan State. Do you put any special emphasis on beating them?

MM: Walt [Drenth, the head coach at Michigan State] and I are lucky to coach in a state where there’s a lot of talent right now.  All seven of our top returners and six out of his top seven are from Michigan.  These young ladies have a long, long history of running against each other.

They have kids I really wanted, and I have kids they really wanted.  Just about all of our kids did a visit there, and most of theirs visited here.  So it’s definitely a healthy, respectful rivalry—these girls have been running against each other for years, and both teams very much look forward to lining up and beating the other.

Mike McGuire2
Courtesy: Michigan

DY: Most of your top runners are in their third, fourth, or fifth year on the team. What have you gotten to know about this group?

Taylor Pogue and Brook Handler are really good leaders—we actually have four co-captains.  Three of them are fifth-year seniors and the fourth is a fourth-year senior.  They all do an outstanding job juggling more than just their personal running.  They all really look out for the team. We’re lucky to have some really selfless leaders.

Then, we have some young talent that gives us that nice blend with Erin Finn and Shannon Osika. We have a nice blend of the young and old on this team.

DY: Speaking of Erin, she’s become well-known for her aggressive front-running. Do you ever try to dissuade her from leading races?

MM: No, not really. Not at all.  She’s pretty fearless. If there’s ever a conversation, it’s about practice.  There are days when you pull the reins on her and days when you let her loose.  Trying to get her to change the way she races would be doing her a disservice.

On the track, I just tell her to turn left and hurry back.

DY: I was told to ask you about “eating the elephant.”

MM: Well, that’s how we view the season. When you’re eating an elephant, you can’t know what will be at the end.  We can’t know what will happen in November, so we just take the season one bite at a time, one step at a time.  We stay in the present.