Michigan State University
Spartan Invitational
Spartan Men Take Second In First Cross Country Meet
9/18/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 18, 1999
EAST LANSING,Mich. - For Michigan State the fourth time wasn't a charm, but overall it was a decent start to the season. The Spartans finished in 2nd place overall in the men's cross-country Spartan Invitational held on the Forest Akers East course at Michigan State. MSU had taken first place in the last three Spartan Invitationals.
Jason Mueller (Shelby, Ohio) was the top Spartan as he finished in fifth place with an overall time of 24:14. It was the freshman's first race as a Spartan. Blake McDowell of Eastern Michigan finished with the top collegiate time of 24:07.
"I wanted to beat Blake McDowell, but I will take what I can get," said Mueller. "We're a young team and looking ahead towards great things next season, but we're not going to forget about this season. We've got some good runners. Matt LaFave (Meridian, Mich.) and Joe Leo (Northville, Mich.) give us great leadership. I just go out there and run and try to learn from them."
Jared Aldrich (Corunna, Mich.) and Ben Evans (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) also finished in the top ten for the Spartans in ninth and tenth places with times of 24:43 and 24:47 respectively. Rounding out the MSU squad was junior Matt LaFave (12th), Jeff Mulder (29th), Brian Wardlow (34th), Jeff Ferrell (37th), Japbir Gill (47th), Mike Cell (49th), and Mario Marquez (50th).
Eastern Michigan captured first place as a team with a score of 27 points. Michigan State finished in second (35 points), followed by Hillsdale (69) and Macomb Community College (116).
"The top three guys for us are freshman and four of our top five," said MSU men's cross country coach Jim Stintzi. "It's late in the season for this to be our opening race and we're a little banged up at this point. I was very pleased with how Jason ran today. The finish isn't exactly where we wanted to be, but it gives us a good bench mark for the rest of the season."
RANK SCHOOL POINTS 1 EMU 27 2 MSU 35 3 HC 69 4 MCC 116
RANK ATHLETE SCHOOL TIME 1 Kyle Baker unatt. 24:02 2 Blake McDowell EMU 24:07 3 Jim Jurcevich unatt. 24:13 4 Steve Schell unatt. 24:14 5 Jason Mueller MSU 24:18 6 Chris Werhman unatt. 24:30 7 Clint Verran unatt. 24:36 8 Joey Borg EMU 24:43 9 Jared Aldrich MSU 24:43 10 Ben Evans MSU 24:47 11 Andy Ames EMU 25:03 12 Matt LaFave MSU 25:05 13 Chris Chiaro EMU 25:09 14 Paul MacMullen unatt. 25:12 15 Jordan Desilets EMU 25:16 16 Bob Busquaert unatt. 25:18 17 Ryan Desgrange EMU 25:21 18 Kevin Blacquiere HC 25:30 19 Keith Hanson unatt. 25:32 20 Jason Bruscha EMU 25:33 21 Dave Friedrich HC 25:33 22 Adam Wheeler unatt. 25:47 23 Derrick Jackson unatt. 25:48 24 Jared Maxwell HC 25:49 25 Matt Marcini unatt. 25:51 26 David Pressgrove HC 25:54 27 Travis Gunn unatt. 26:05 28 Steve Larson HC 26:06 29 Jeff Mulder MSU 26:12 30 Eric Houghton HC 26:14 31 Ben Wojcik EMU 26:16 32 Paul Pobursky EMU 26:20 33 Rick Hornbaker MCC 26:23 34 Rrian Wardlow MSU 26:29 35 Randy Scherer HC 26:30 36 Billy Van Vianen MCC 26:31 37 Jeff Ferrell MSU 26:35 38 Geoff Anerson EMU 26:36 39 Chris Ray EMU 26:40 40 Christian Tracy HC 26:41 41 Neil Smith MCC 26:46 42 Matt Wehrman EMU 27:01 43 Nick Rorick HC 27:10 44 Ben Flaata HC 27:14 45 Bill Mader MCC 27:20 46 Joe Brunson HC 27:22 47 Japbir Gill MSU 27:24 48 Brian Nordhaus unatt. 27:39 49 Mike Cell MSU 27:41 50 Mario Marquez MSU 27:45 51 Jonathan Nikkila HC 27:51 52 Adam Walker HC 28:03 53 Jeff Jacques HC 28:08 54 Shane Morgan HC 29:30 55 Alan Doneth MCC 29:32 56 Chris Laux MCC 30:16
