Ahiko

Updated code:

<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php
if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) {
  the_post_thumbnail('medium');
}
?></a>
<h1><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>
<?php the_excerpt(); ?></div>
<?php endwhile; ?>

Is there a way to isolate the first 9 posts so that I can force formatting onto each one in their own separate <div> ?