Although the Michigan men's cross country team's performance was largely dominated by host-school Oklahoma State, the Wolverines were still able to claim an impressive second-place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

“I was pleased with some aspects of what we did that will help us in November,” Michigan coach Alex Gibby said.

It was a learning experience for both the runners and their new coach, as they were able to pick up on running patterns that are not easily detected outside of a competitive meet atmosphere. Many consider the meet to be among the most prestigious in the nation, and the fact that the Cowboys are the reigning national champions speaks volumes to the caliber of teams attracted to the weekend affair.

The adjustment from the autumn Ann Arbor air to the dry heat common to the southwestern United States only added to the grueling nature of the competition.

“The humidity definitely affected our guys,” Gibby said.

Redshirt junior Craig Forys had the best showing by any Michigan runner with a time of 24:50.31 on the 8,000 meter course. It was the first race in two seasons for Forys, who likely set the tone for an extraordinary fall by cruising among the meet's top 10 for a majority of the course before settling into an 11th-place finish.

Next up for Michigan is the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on Saturday in Madison. The event will serve as a tune-up for the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Oct. 16 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

“With just three weeks until the Pre-Nationals race, we are hoping to be more prepared by then,” Gibby said.

In order to be competitive on both the conference and national levels, the Wolverines are looking to close the gap between its fourth and fifth finishers. Doing so would improve the overall team finishes and allow it to compete with national powers. Three of the Michigan runners in Stillwater finished within 82 seconds of each other. Junior Bobby Aprill, redshirt sophomore Derek Henning and sophomore Zach Ornelas finished 21st, 27th and 31st, respectively, each contributing to Michigan's second-place position out of 18 teams.

The Wolverines hope to find more success a little bit closer to home as the remainder of the season's meets will take place in the Midwest. With eight lettermen returning from last year's team, including two All-Big Ten selections in Forys and sophomore Brendon Blacklaws, a successful season is definitely not out of the question.

“The team has demonstrated promising effort and we've got the personnel to do it,” Gibby said.