It was like the final sequence out of a bad movie. A runner in the championships is battling in the top 10. Then all of the sudden -- BOOM -- he's tripped and the pack is gone.

Just after the 1,000-meter mark at the Big Ten Championships on Saturday in East Lansing, Mich., that happened to Tom McGlynn.

He was stepped on from behind while running in the middle of the pack. Suddenly, he found himself face down in the dirt with the footprints of 90 runners on his back.

"I felt like it was in slow motion," he said. "I kept thinking, 'This isn't really happening.' "

He said it felt like forever, but McGlynn was trampled and left behind in just five or 10 seconds.

"I kept getting stepped on and kicked," he said, "so I curled up and waited for the pack to pass."

Although one runner actually stepped on McGlynn, the other runners saw what happened and were trying to miss him. When he finally got up, the pack was about 100 yards away.

McGlynn remembered Coach Harry Groves told him to wait for the pack to pass and not to sprint.

"He did well getting back up," Groves said.

Limping from being kicked in the thigh, McGlynn found his pace and tried to work his way back to the other runners. "Forget about the knock down and see what you can do," was running through his mind.

As he began concentrating on the run, the pain in his leg began to go away.

"It was only bruised," he said.

He was nervous because it took him so long to get back to the other runners. Eventually, he calmed down and began to concentrate.

"It took me about a half mile to get back," he said. "Then I started passing."

The knock down not only caused problems for McGlynn, but also for the other runners on the team who had grouped behind Bob Hamer and Jake Bartholomy.

"McGlynn falling really hurt that back group," Bartholomy said about the pacing.

Once Jon Pritchard, Leif Steiner and Ken Cooper were back in his sight, McGlynn realized the Lions were doing fairly well. At that point, he wanted to move up and help the team.

"I got withing 20 yards of Cooper, but I ran out of steam," he recalled.

After crossing the finish line on empty, McGlynn finished 36th with a time of 25 minutes and 48 seconds. He had given it everything, and he was cringing. Not just because of physical pain, but because of something he saw.

"The worst thing for me was coming across the line and seeing Michigan," he said. "They were already celebrating."

If McGlynn hadn't been tripped, Groves and the team believe they may have passed Wisconsin and moved into second behind Michigan. But no one will ever know.

But, as Hamer put it, "There is always next year."