Cross Country Opens Season With Annual Jeff Drenth Memorial
8/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 31, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State cross country team opens its 2011 campaign on Friday, Sept. 2 at the Jeff Drenth Memorial hosted by Central Michigan. Action in Mount Pleasant, Mich., is scheduled to start at 11:20 a.m. with the men's 5k followed by the women's 5k at 12:05 p.m.
The Jeff Drenth Memorial serves as a tune up for MSU as it prepares for the Spartan Invitational on Friday, Sept. 16 at Forest Akers East, with races beginning at 1 p.m.
The women enter the season ranked 29th in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Cross Country Coaches' Poll. The women also sit third in the preseason Great Lakes Region poll while the men are sixth in the region.
The men return five of its eight members who raced in the Big Ten Championships, and three of the seven who competed at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. The men finished fifth overall at both competitions. With the men only losing NCAA Championships qualifier Patrick Grosskopf along with two other seniors, there are several positions in the lineup up for grabs this season as they welcome 10 freshmen to the team.
With the Spartans boasting a lineup of 10 juniors and seniors, their experience is bound to help them over the course of the 2011 season. Senior Aaron Simoneau will lead the squad along with classmate Joe Dimambro. Both Simoneau and Dimambro saw significant time last season for the Spartans. Joining the senior tandem are juniors Josh McAlary, Ben Miller and Isaiah Vandoorne. Dimambro, McAlary, Miller and VanDoorne all were participants of the 2009 NCAA Championships team.
Like the men, the women return a significant portion of their runners from a year ago, however will miss a significant cog in Emily MacLeod. MacLeod was a pivotal runner in the team's 2010 Big Ten Championship as well as the 2010 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championship, as she won the individual crown at both races en route to being named both Big Ten Athlete of the Year and Great Lakes Region Runner of the Year.
Of the seven runners from the 2010 NCAA Championships, MSU returns five from that squad, including two of the top three runners. Looking to lead the women in 2011 will be seniors Carlie Green and Rebekah Smeltzer. Green is the most senior runner on the team, as she has appeared on the NCAA Championships lineup all three of her competitive seasons, with Smeltzer having appeared in the last two.
Also returning from last year's NCAA Championships lineup is senior Tiffany Evans, junior Katie Haines and sophomore Julia Otwell.
The women made their 10th-straight NCAA Championships appearance as a team, keeping the longest active streak in the Big Ten alive. It also marked the 12th-consecutive year MSU had at least one individual in the race.
For complete results following the conclusion of both the men and the women's races check back to msuspartans.com.
Players Mentioned
