Sometimes people get what they want, immediately - a person hits the lottery; someone guesses the answer correctly. But sometimes the long route is more rewarding.

That is the case for Mark Pokora, a sophomore on the men's cross-country team. Pokora is the lone non-freshman walk-on on the prestigious team, and he did not end up where he is by accident.

"I realized early on in my freshman year that I needed to be a Wolverine runner," Pokora said.

But Pokora did not try out for the team last year because he was afraid.

"I knew I was not a strong enough runner to contribute to the team," Pokora said.

Pokora was a cross country star in Pickerington, Ohio, but he was not a strong enough competitor to be recruited by a big-time school.

"Most of the schools that were pursuing me were Division-II schools in Ohio like Dayton and Kent State," Pokora said.

Pokora chose Michigan because of the high-class education, and he went about being a normal college student. He took classes in the engineering school, joined the Ukrainian club and played guitar in his free time.

Yet Pokora could not erase running from his life so easily. He joined the Michigan running club and felt reasonably content with his decision. That is, until last November, when he won the 5k Midwest Club Cross Country race in 17 minutes, which was far worse than his normal times in high school.

"It was eye-opening," Pokora said. " I felt like I had digressed so much. I was disappointed in myself."

So Pokora began to prepare for a sophomore tryout. He took on an immense class load of 19 credits during his second semester, so that he would be able to focus on the team this fall.

His determination was pushed further when he visited home. He talked with various friends, who were now running for Ohio State, Cincinnati and Purdue.

"I felt left out, like I was the only one not being what I could be," Pokora said.

The day after exams were finished, Pokora hit the track hard. He ran 10 miles that first day and averaged 75 miles a week throughout the summer.

"I only took two days off all summer, and I couldn't have done it without my buddies from high school who came running with me," Pokora said.

At the end of the summer Pokora looked forward to tryouts. He was told he needed to run four miles in 20:30. The day of the tryout, he lined up and ran a 20:22. Pokora signed on the following week to become a cross country runner at Michigan.

"It was a dream come true." Pokora said with a smile. "This was my dream, and, to have reached, it is just incredible."

But Pokora still had to adjust to the team.

"It was odd walking into the locker room, because I wasn't even a freshman," Pokora said. "I was something else. The team starting calling me rookie."

He has had to earn the jubilation that comes along with being a Division I athlete in the sport he loves. The team has 85- to 90-mile weeks. When not running, Pokora can often be found behind the dim glow of the computer, and he's often in bed by 10:30 p.m.

Pokora struggled in his first race, placing 178th in a field of 250 with a time of 27:03 at Minnesota. He felt as if he let his team down.

"I did not run like a Wolverine is expected to run," Pokora said.

Pokora wanted to prove his worth in his next race. He was running in the middle of the pack with the team in practice. Now, he wanted to show he could do it when it counted. He ran a 26:47 - a 15-second improvement on his personal-best - and he took fifth in the open race.

"Coach (Ron Warhurst) told me to be patient," Pokora said. "He said I would grow as a runner slowly, but I had to be patient, and that advice has helped me every since the first race."

Pokora doesn't know how he will fair in the next few years. But for now he is elated to be on the team.

"It is still weird going into the team locker room and knowing I'm a part of this," Pokora said.

For now, his days consist of early morning practices and mile after mile of running with the team. But do not feel bad for Pokora. He isn't walking on cloud-nine - he's running on it.