Michigan State University
Great Lakes Regional Championships
Women Finish First, Men Sixth At Great Lakes Regional Meet
11/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 10, 2007
Complete Women's Results in PDF Format 
Complete Men's Results in PDF Format
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Michigan State cross country teams traveled to Bloomington, Ind. on Saturday, to compete in the Great Lakes Regional Meet, held at the Indiana Cross Country Course and hosted by Indiana University. The Michigan State women ran to its first team-scored first-place finish of the season, after finishing second at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago. The Spartans scored 60 team points, placing ahead of second-place Michigan with 63 points. Senior Nicole Bush was the top finisher again for the Spartans, finishing in second place for the second consecutive meet with a time of 20:34.47, marking her fifth top-five finish of the year. The men's team finished in sixth place (210 points) out of 30 teams and has finished in the top-seven in the past two meets. Wisconsin (68 points) was the winning team in the men's race. Sophomore Max Goldak was the top finisher for the men, crossing the finish line with a time of 31:30.73, placing 23rd.
In addition to Bush, junior Alissa McKaig came in at 21:08.44, finishing in eighth place for the second straight week, her fourth top-10 finish of the season. Junior Lisa Senakiewich finished in 10th place, coming in at 21:20.28. The Bush-McKaig-Senakiewich trio has now finished in the one-two-three spots for the Spartans in five of six races this year.
"Nicole, Alissa, and Lisa were great again today," said MSU associate head coach Rita Arndt-Molis. "We thought we had a great outing at the Big Ten Championships, but we ran even better today, and look to build on that for the NCAA Championships next week."
Finishing in the fourth and fifth spots for the MSU women were junior Sarah Price, with a time of 21:29.99 (15th), and freshman Becky McCormack at 21:50.17 (25th). Freshman Emily MacLeod finished in 34th place with a time of 21:59.97 and sophomore Leah Elenbaas came in at 22:17.00, for a 49th-place finish.
"Sarah and Becky rallied the last 1000 meters to really give us a boost today," added coach Arndt-Molis. "Becky ran unbelievable this morning, she finished higher today than she did in any regional meet in high school, which is saying a lot. She went from being an average runner in high school to running at a very high level on a division-one cross country program. She has been huge for us, and it just goes to show how much work she has put in the past few months."
Along with Goldak, junior Dustin Voss was the second Spartan finisher for the men, coming in at 31:46.06 in 31st place. Junior Bill Peterson ran to a 40th-place finish in 31:54.33, while freshman Spencer Beatty came in at 32:23.36 (54th). Freshman Patrick Grosskopf finished in 63rd place with a time of 32:36.25, and freshman Mike Quick came in with a time of 32:42.30, good enough for 71st. Sophomore Daniel Lewis rounded out the men's runners, finishing 120th, with a time of 33:47.04.
"The men came to compete today," said coach Arndt-Molis. "It was an entirely different team than we've seen all year. They've set a new standard now, and hopefully we can build on that for years to come."
With the first-place finish, the MSU women receive an automatic bid to next week's NCAA Championships held in Terre Haute, Ind. The men's team is awaiting an at-large bid to the championships, and will find out Sunday at 7 p.m. The women's team finished in third place at this year's Pre-Nationals, which were also held in Terre Haute, while the men's team placed 23rd at the event.
Players Mentioned
