ROCHESTER, Mich. – Although the Michigan men’s cross country team’s seventh-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday was not enough to send it to the NCAA championships, one runner proved himself good enough to go.

Redshirt junior Craig Forys claimed third place in the 10,000-meter run with a personal best 30:29.14 – good for an automatic bid to the NCAA championships at Indiana State next Monday.

Forys returned this season with this goal in mind, after redshirting last year due to calf and knee injuries.

“I give a lot of credit to Craig,” Michigan coach Alex Gibby said on Saturday. “He was on the ropes at 8,000 meters and found a way to get himself back in it and almost ended up with the individual victory, which was a far cry from last year when he was sitting on the sideline hurt and watching the race."

As the Wolverines kicked off their first 10,000-meter race of the season, Michigan runners Forys and junior Bobby Aprill stayed toward the front, as a congested pack formed through the early portion of the race. At around the 3,000-meter mark, Dayton’s Chris Lemon took first position, separating from the pack.

Through the 8,000-meter mark, Aprill and Forys continued to keep pace with the front pack, steadily in the fifth and 10th positions, respectively.

Lemon lost his lead with about 1,000 meters left to run, as the 231 competing runners made their last loop at the Katke-Cousins Golf Course.

Moves were made as a 10-man pack emerged over the last straightaway. Forys powered forward, taking second position before being passed by Wisconsin’s Reed Connor just before the finish line, and he crossed with a third-place finish.

“I hung on and kept contact for the last 2,000 meters, because the main group that I needed to be with was about 20 meters ahead of me,” Forys said. “With about 800 or 700 left to go, I made a really strong move and was able to catch them. As soon as I caught them, I just kept going; There was no reason to slow the rhythm down.”

Wisconsin won the overall race with a score of 32 points. Cincinnati’s Eric Finan took top honors with a time of 30:25.34.

Despite falling back during the latter part of the race, Aprill still captured All-Great Lakes Region honors, finishing in 21st place with a personal best time of 30:49.56 – almost two minutes faster than his previous 10K best.

“Bobby suffered a bit after he broke off from the group,” Gibby said. “But he ended up in 21st, which was his top all-region honor."

Michigan had five other runners competing at the Great Lakes Regional, three of whom finished in scoring position.

Sophomore Zach Ornelas took 63rd place with a time of 31:58.17, and sophomore Dallas Bowden followed him, less than a second later, for 67th place (31:58.83).

“We ended up in seventh, which in the long run isn't where we want to be,” Gibby said. “But we’re starting to see forward progress, and as a coach, that’s the part you can live with.”

The team has had problems all season due to its youth, as the third through seventh slot runners have consistently been sophomores and freshmen.

Gibby explained that the team will continue practicing through this week in order to get in the habit of running through the duration of postseason competition, as well as to give Forys company as he prepares for NCAA championships in Indiana next Monday.

Forys will now prepare to represent Michigan at NCAAs alone, but he said going to the championship has been a long time coming – especially after his injury last season.

“Dealing with injuries is never fun, and it was a long process coming back,” Forys said. “I steadily got better and better this season and taking 10th at the Big Ten meet gave me a confidence boost. I was in position today to do it. I just put it together on the right day.”