Michigan State University
Great Lakes Region Championships
Men's Cross Country Closes Season At Great Lakes Regional
11/13/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 13, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men?s cross country team wound up finishing in 7th place at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships held in Terre Heute, Ind., on Saturday. Twenty-eight teams competed in the 10K race on the campus of Indiana State. Three squads from the Great Lakes Region entered ranked in the top 25. The Spartans came into the meet unranked according to the MONDO Men?s Cross Country Rankings.
Highlighting the event for MSU was the performance of senior Joe Leo (Northville, Mich.). Leo placed seventh overall (30:30) to earn All-Great Lakes Region honors and automatically qualified as an individual for the NCAA Championships. Leo qualified by virtue of placing among the top four runners not to earn a team bid. He will run at the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Mon., Nov. 22, in Bloomington, Ind. The seventh-place finish was his best finish of the season.
Ben Evans finished in 31:52.70, 34th place overall, for the Spartans? second best time. It was the highest Evans had finished on the MSU team this year. Jason Mueller (Shelby, Mich.) was close behind, as the freshman finished 44th, in 32:03.40. Rounding out the Spartans? times were Matt LaFave (53rd, 32:20.70), Jared Aldrich (59th, 32:24.50), Brian Wardlow (61st, 32:25.50), and Jeffrey Ferrell (111th, 33:25.90).
Wisconsin captured the NCAA Great Lakes Regional title by finishing with 51 points. They now advance to the NCAA Championships, along with second place Notre Dame (68 points), November 22. Michigan State?s 195 points were good for seventh overall. The Spartans captured the Great Lakes Regional last season for the first time in school history.
The NCAA Great Lakes Regional was the last competition of the season for Michigan State. The Spartans competed in five races during the fall. It also marked the last race for seniors Joe Leo and Jeffrey Ferrell.
TOP 15 TEAM RESULTS TOP 15 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 1. Wisconsin 51 1. John Schoenfelder (Wis.) 30:07 2. Notre Dame 68 2. Ryan Shay (ND) 30:08 3. Michigan 79 3. Jayson Cantin (UofM) 30:16 4. Ohio State 137 4. Matthew Downin (Wis.) 30:16 5. Butler 172 5. Tim Chorny (IU) 30:21 6. Central Michigan 193 6. Steven Lawrence (UofM) 30:22 7. Michigan State 195 7. Joe Leo (MSU) 30:30 8. Kent State 264 8. Jason Gunn (ISU) 30:44 9. Indiana 272 9. Justin Young (Butler) 30:46 10. Miami 285 10. James Siele (Butler) 30:47 11. Eastern Michigan 307 12. Indiana State 321 OTHER SPARTAN FINISHERS 13. Cincinnati 384 34. Ben Evans (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) 31:52 13. Purdue 384 44. Jason Mueller (Shelby, Ohio) 32:03 15. Ball State 394 53. Matt LaFave (Meridian, Mich.) 32:20 59. Jared Aldrich (Corunna, Mich.) 32:24 61. Brian Wardlow (Pinckney, Mich.) 32:25 69. Jeffrey Ferrell (Highland, Mich.) 33:25
