Michigan State University
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
MSU Women's Cross Country Finishes Third At NCAA Regionals
11/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 17, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - As they have been all year, juniors Michelle Carson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Jamie Krzyminski (Corunna) were among the top performers in the field, as MSU finished third out of 31 teams at Sunday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by Purdue. Carson finished fourth overall and Krzyminski fifth to lead the No. 19 Spartans, whose third-place finish with 120 points should easily get the Spartans one of 13 at-large bids for the NCAA championships. No. 5 Notre Dame won the event with 63 points while No. 12 Michigan placed second with 107 points to earn automatic berths in the NCAA Championships.
The Spartans fell short in their bid to repeat as regional champions, but their third-place finish is the third best performance ever for an MSU women's cross country team at the NCAA Regionals, trailing last year's championship team and the 1999 squad which placed second.
Carson covered the 6k course in 21:18.9 to finish fourth, while Krzyminski finished fifth in 21:21.0. Toledo's Briana Shook was the individual winner in 20:47.1.
Junior Sarah Pepera (Ortonville) was MSU's third-best runner, placing 31st in 22:11.3, showing a dramatic improvement from last year's regional when she finished 83rd in 23:06.4. Senior Cindy Durocher (Parry Sound, Ont.) was 33rd in 22:13.2, and sophomore Natalie Stein (North Hollywood, Calif.) rounded out MSU's point-scorers with a 47th-place finish in 22:29.0.
Also competing for MSU was sophomore Gail Stec (Ypsilanti), who was 95th with a time of 23:24.4, and senior Marissa Ryan (Carson City), who placed 99th in 23:27.8.
The Spartans will await confirmation of whether or not they advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held Monday, Nov. 25, in Terre Haute, Ind.
Players Mentioned
