BLOOMINGTON-- - With the Michigan men's cross country team coming off a disappointing fifth-place finish at last year's Big Ten Championships, some questioned whether the Wolverines would be able to respond this year.

Did they ever.

Only a strong Wisconsin team was able to hold back a resurgent Wolverine squad as Michigan strung together stellar performances by sophomore Lex Williams and junior Mike Woods to finish second overall. Five Wolverines finished the eight-kilometer race in the top 30, helping the team rebound from its fifth-place finish last year.

Michigan coach Ron Warhurst was elated by his team's performance.

"I am very happy for the kids," Warhurst said. "They have worked really hard over the last four months and really deserve this result."

The Wolverines ran well at one of the toughest cross country courses in the country. Williams and Woods conquered a hilly landscape to finish with times of 24:29 and 24:41, respectively. Sophomore Victor Gras (25:01), freshman Brandon Fellows, (25:24) and freshman Justin Switzer (25:26) followed behind. The trio finished 18th, 28th and 29th, respectively.

"It's a relief and a great race for me," Woods said. "I look to build upon this performance for the rest of the year."

The team's second-place finish was even more impressive considering Michigan's injuries. Freshman Sean McNamera, who finished second at the Michigan Open, was forced to drop during the race due to a groin injury.

"When one of your top five drop out its refreshing to see our kids perform like they did," Warhurst said.

The team attributes its strong performance to an intensive training program over the past four months. The Wolverines trained harder this year by closely matching the regiment set by the Badgers, who run nearly 120 miles a week. The Wolverines increased their mileage from 65 miles last year to more than 100 miles per week this year.

"Starting twenty weeks ago, everyone has been putting in a ton of miles in training," sophomore James Reichardt said. "The top guys just have that extra talent to get over the top."

The team then tapered training to give its understandably weary legs time to rest for Big Tens.

Lex Williams and the rest of the Wolverines feel the extra work has paid off.

"Every year, we have a goal to do well at Big Tens," Williams said. "This year our goal was to finish second, and we finally achieved that goal."

Wisconsin dominated the race. Although Minnesota's Chris Rombough beat the pack, the Badgers placed five runners in the top ten for the win.

Both Williams and Woods came up big for the Wolverines. They improved upon their disappointing finishes last year. The duo ran together during much of the race, allowing the pair to team together to advance during the race.

"Both (Woods) and myself really helped each other out in the middle parts of the race which allowed us to both finish near the top." Williams said.

Williams has had an extremely productive season, leading the Wolverines with a 23rd-place finish two weeks ago at the NCAA Pre-Nationals to compliment his stellar performance on Sunday.

"Lex is an example of a guy on the team who works really hard and is reaping the benefits of his hard work." Woods said.

The last few seconds of the meet added some drama, as Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky stumbled and fell when he looked to claim first place. He was only able to watch from the sidelines, as a slew of runners, including Williams, finished ahead of him.

The youth and talent on the Wolverines' roster indicates that better results are on the horizon.

"This current group will be with us for two more years," Warhurst said. "I look forward to seeing the future of this current team."

Michigan looks to keep up its current momentum in the Great Lakes Invitational next week. They then move onto Terre Haute, Ind. the following week to compete in the NCAA Championships.