Five Michigan athletes raced only their teammates in Friday’s non-scoring Michigan Open in Dexter, MI, marking the beginning of a new era in the men’s cross country program. Legendary coach Ron Warhurst stepped down in July after 36 years, leaving the future in the hands of Wolverine coach Alex Gibby.

Gibby, a 1997 graduate of William and Mary College in Virginia, spent the last seven years as head cross country coach at his alma mater, where he garnered four top-16 finishes in the NCAA cross country championships before taking the job at Michigan. He brought four volunteer coaches from William and Mary, graduates who at one time ran for him there. He will also be serving as assistant coach to the men’s track and field team.

Luckily for Gibby – who has a winning reputation to maintain – a new coach in distance running doesn’t necessarily mean a couple of wasted years. Although he was unfamiliar with Warhurst’s training regimen, Gibby is confident that his different approaches to reaching the same goals – strength, speed and endurance – will not set his athletes back.

“It’s just a matter of trying to blend the changes in stylistically,” Gibby said. “Their preparation to date, especially over the summer, is drastically different from what I’d have them doing, but that’s not good or bad. It just means there’s a price to pay right now and we will reap the benefit of that price come November.”

There will, however, remain numerous unknowns through most of September as 13 of the squad's 22 runners are new this year. Junior Bobby Aprill and redshirt junior Craig Forys, along with the seven sophomores on the team, hope to welcome the freshmen and teach them a lesson or two along the way. But they aren’t worried about the new coaching style. In fact, they find some reassurance in the changes Gibby brings.

“Coach Gibby is doing a good job of letting us know why he does what he does and mapping out the season,” Forys said. “Keeping us informed is the biggest change I think. Last year we were guessing a lot with coach Ron. (Gibby’s) going to ask a lot out of us and we are going to trust him.”

After sitting out due to an injury last cross country season, Forys is happy to have two strong legs and his fitness back. A young team and a new coach are no excuse for this bunch not to perform, he said.

“We’ve got to go into the Big Ten meet thinking we are going to win because there’s no reason to go in not thinking that way,” Forys said.

The Wolverines finished in fifth place in last year’s Big Ten Championship at Penn State. This season, the meet is at the end of October in Madison.

“I’m running out of time, so I’m ready to get it done," Forys said. "We are going to work with each other. There’s no time to waste.”