BY JAMES COOK
TRAVERSE CITY -- It was a Michigan day.
Rondell Ruff won the men's Stars of the Mile -- the reincarnation of the Golden Mile -- by over a second to finish off a Wolverine sweep, as fellow former University of Michigan runner Nicole Edwards won the women's race.
"We had to do our thing out there," Ruff joked. "There's a couple of Spartans out here, so we had to let them know who's the dominant one in the big state of Michigan. It's still our state."
Both Edwards and Ruff win $1,000 in the race that started on Front Street, then went up Union to State to Boardman and then back to Front, finishing in front of the State Theatre.
"We got out good," Ruff said. "But I knew once we hit the corner and came back the other way on Front Street, the winds was going to hit us. And it did. It slowed us down a bit. I wanted to stay focused. The guy from Colgate (Hanlon), he took it out and was leading. I wanted to stay on him and stay strong and finish up when I got the wind to my back."
Ruff pulled away over the last 100 yards of Front Street's pavement, lined by hundreds of festival-goers who gathered to take in the race along it entire route.
"I didn't know there was going to be this many people out," Ruff said. "There were people all the way around, which is great. It kept me motivated."
Hanlon, a three-time Patriot League champion while at Colgate, finished second in 4:12.64.
Eastern Michigan's Josh Karanja (2009 NCAA steeplechase All-American), Villanova's Sean Tully (Big East 800-meter champion) and Caleb Kromm of Green Bay, Wis., rounded out the field.
Edwards -- who stayed at the home of former teammate Claire Otwell in preparation for the race -- won in 4:38.36, well in front of second-place finisher Andrea Parker, a former Michigan cross country team captain. Michigan State grads Lisa Sienakeiwich and Sarah Price were third and fourth and Breeda Willis of Stevens Points, Wis., was fifth.
"I'm going to keep running as long as I can afford it," Edwards said. "I'm looking at getting a part-time job in Ann Arbor so I can keep training."
Edwards -- a 12-time All-American at Michigan (10 in track and two in cross country) and the U-M women's indoor mile record-holder -- hopes to compete in the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
"If I keep it going through then," Edwards said, "I'm definitely going to give it a shot at the 2012 Olympics. But I've got to take it one step at a time."
