MSU Cross Country Travels To Wisconsin On Friday
10/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's and women's cross country teams will resume competition this weekend at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational. The sixth annual event will be held on Friday, Oct. 17, at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison and will get underway with the Women's 6K race at 12 p.m. (ET), followed by the Men's 8K race at approximately 12:45 p.m. (ET). The Invitational has quickly turned itself into one of the nation's premier collegiate meets and will feature 22 ranked women's squads and 19 ranked teams on the men's side.
"Our primary objective is to be better than the last time we raced," said MSU Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth. "I feel both groups have grown quite a bit over the last couple weeks. We learned a lot at Minnesota. We came back and looked at race plans and retooled a little bit with how we're approaching some of our competition. But mostly, the people that we need to get better seem to be making progress and that's going to be critical for us moving forward. This meet is arguably the best in the country in terms of depth and the quality of the field. It'll be a great test."
The Spartan women will enter the event ranked No. 2 in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll, the highest mark of any of the 40 participating teams. Dating back to the 2009 season, Michigan State has appeared in the top-30 in 53 consecutive coaches' polls. Friday's women's race will also feature five other top-10 squads in Arkansas (5), Stanford (6), Iowa State (8), Florida State (9), and Virginia (10).
Senior Leah O'Connor and sophomore Rachele Schulist have served as the Spartans' top duo for much of the season, combining for a pair of individual victories and six top-10 finishes. Schulist opened her season with a win and personal-best 6K time of 19:37.80 at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Oregon and was the runner-up at the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational. She received the Big Ten Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week Award for the first time on Sept. 9 following her victory in Oregon. O'Connor finished as the runner-up behind Schulist at the Dellinger Invitational with a career-best time of 19:53.00, and followed that with a win at the Spartan Invitational for the second straight season. The tandem of Schulist and O'Connor has also led the Spartans to team victories at the Dellinger Invitational as well as the Roy Griak Invitational, helping MSU move up four spots from its preseason No. 6 ranking.
"We've really talked about just going in and finding out who we are every time we compete," said Drenth. "I expect our women to run well, but we will know a lot more about our team and where we stand after this meet."
The Michigan State men's team is currently receiving the most votes (19) of any team not ranked in the top-30 of the Coaches Poll. The Spartans recorded a runner-up finish at the Dellinger Invitational on Sept. 5 and also finished fourth at the Griak Invitational in Minnesota on Sept. 27. Friday's race will include top-10 teams Northern Arizona (3), Portland (5), Syracuse (6), Stanford (7), UCLA (T-9), and Wisconsin (T-9).
Returning All-American Caleb Rhynard has placed in the top-three in all three events he has competed in so far this year, which includes a season-best 8K time came (24:27.90) at the Dellinger Invitational. Rhynard was also named the Big Ten Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Sept. 30 after finishing third at the Griak Invitational with a time of 24:48.50.
"If we can get four or five guys close together from one to six, I think we've got a real good chance to have a strong showing," added Drenth.
Fans can follow Friday's action with live results and live video. For additional Adidas Invitational information, click here.
