Saturday, November 21
Louisville, Ky.
All Day
Michigan State University
vs
NCAA Championships
Wiersma Earns All-America Honors
11/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 21, 2015 
Women's Results | Men's Results
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior Alexis Wiersma concluded her cross country season with All-American honors after earning First-Team All-Big Ten and First-Team All-Great Lakes Region accolades earlier this year. The women's program finished 13th at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, as the men's team finished 25th.
""The women were outstanding, and both teams engaged well," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth. "Our primary objective was to not be phased and to control the things we can control. Watching them move through the field, they applied the lessons we talk about every week.
"You could see Alexis' progress coming last spring and continue to grow this fall. Her running has been a reflection of her leadership. Ally (Alexis) has great energy and enthusiasm, and she looks to help. Those are important in competition, and all of those traits help her engage and think forward in a difficult meet. She was outstanding. Teams follow leaders, and she did an outstanding job."
Wiersma clocked a 20:12.1 on her way to becoming MSU's sixth All-American since 2010. Junior Shelby Jackson and senior Kate Landwehr battled closely, finishing within three seconds one of another. Jackson, who has consistently been the Spartans No. 2 runner over the past four meets, clocked a 20:42.4, while Landwehr turned in a 20:45.8.
"Shelby did a great job of leading," said Drenth. "And Katie did a great job coming back with limited training and was remarkable in her progress. The young ones followed their lead."
Freshman Lynsie Gram crossed the line in 126th in the field of the nation's top-254 runners with an effort of 21:01.1. Gram was the 19th freshman to finish the 6,000-meter course.
"Lynsie was unbelievable, and Amber was excellent," Drenth said. "They will learn from this experience and being in this environment. I am certain of that."
Sophomores Kelsie Schwartz and Aubrey Wilberding ran a 21:27.7 and 21:35.3, respectively, to finish 185th and 196th, while freshman Amber Way raced to a 202nd-place finish in 21:39.8.
New Mexico won the team title with a score of 49, while Colorado and Oregon rounded out the top three, respectively. MSU combined for a score of 368 for 13th and was second among Big Ten schools behind Michigan in sixth.
Junior Sherod Hardt paced the men's team for the second-conseuctive outing, coming in 54th with a time of 30:35.7. Senior Caleb Rhynard concluded his storied Spartan cross country career in 79th. Rhynard crossed the line in 30:47.2. Junior TJ Carey rounded out MSU's top three, racing to a 31:18.1 for 139th.
"I think our expectations were a little higher," said Drenth of the men's team. "They followed the race plan though. We were marginally engaged last year, but this year the whole group was engaged. I asked them to do a couple of things that counter what we normally do, but they took a big chance. What I really appreciated from them, though, was that they engaged and did what we asked them to try to do."
The Spartans continued to run well as a group with Junior Clark Ruiz, sophomore Max Benoit and junior Nick Soter all completing the 10K-meter course within four seconds. Ruiz clocked a 31:58.9 for 199th, coming in ahead of Benoit's 32:00.2 for 202nd. Soter ran a 32:02.1 for 204th. Senior Andrew Cusmano rounded out MSU's group of seven with a 32:24.6.
"They have created a culture of consistent behaviors and training," Drenth said. "This core group has helped us grow. Our seniors have helped us turn the corner and have stayed the course. They have taken training seriously and things away from practice serious. We need to learn consistency and can be better next year."
Syracuse took home the team title with a score of 82. Colorado finished in second and Stanford was third. Michigan State combined for a tally of 543 to finish 25th.
"The next big component for us is on the track," said Drenth. "You can see growth in the spring that takes effect in the fall. We need to find that footing on the track and get a number of guys in there to qualify for first round of nationals. We need some younger guys in the hunt for points at the conference meet, and then we will see it greatly help the cross country group."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior Alexis Wiersma concluded her cross country season with All-American honors after earning First-Team All-Big Ten and First-Team All-Great Lakes Region accolades earlier this year. The women's program finished 13th at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, as the men's team finished 25th.
""The women were outstanding, and both teams engaged well," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth. "Our primary objective was to not be phased and to control the things we can control. Watching them move through the field, they applied the lessons we talk about every week.
"You could see Alexis' progress coming last spring and continue to grow this fall. Her running has been a reflection of her leadership. Ally (Alexis) has great energy and enthusiasm, and she looks to help. Those are important in competition, and all of those traits help her engage and think forward in a difficult meet. She was outstanding. Teams follow leaders, and she did an outstanding job."
Wiersma clocked a 20:12.1 on her way to becoming MSU's sixth All-American since 2010. Junior Shelby Jackson and senior Kate Landwehr battled closely, finishing within three seconds one of another. Jackson, who has consistently been the Spartans No. 2 runner over the past four meets, clocked a 20:42.4, while Landwehr turned in a 20:45.8.
"Shelby did a great job of leading," said Drenth. "And Katie did a great job coming back with limited training and was remarkable in her progress. The young ones followed their lead."
Freshman Lynsie Gram crossed the line in 126th in the field of the nation's top-254 runners with an effort of 21:01.1. Gram was the 19th freshman to finish the 6,000-meter course.
"Lynsie was unbelievable, and Amber was excellent," Drenth said. "They will learn from this experience and being in this environment. I am certain of that."
Sophomores Kelsie Schwartz and Aubrey Wilberding ran a 21:27.7 and 21:35.3, respectively, to finish 185th and 196th, while freshman Amber Way raced to a 202nd-place finish in 21:39.8.
New Mexico won the team title with a score of 49, while Colorado and Oregon rounded out the top three, respectively. MSU combined for a score of 368 for 13th and was second among Big Ten schools behind Michigan in sixth.
Junior Sherod Hardt paced the men's team for the second-conseuctive outing, coming in 54th with a time of 30:35.7. Senior Caleb Rhynard concluded his storied Spartan cross country career in 79th. Rhynard crossed the line in 30:47.2. Junior TJ Carey rounded out MSU's top three, racing to a 31:18.1 for 139th.
"I think our expectations were a little higher," said Drenth of the men's team. "They followed the race plan though. We were marginally engaged last year, but this year the whole group was engaged. I asked them to do a couple of things that counter what we normally do, but they took a big chance. What I really appreciated from them, though, was that they engaged and did what we asked them to try to do."
The Spartans continued to run well as a group with Junior Clark Ruiz, sophomore Max Benoit and junior Nick Soter all completing the 10K-meter course within four seconds. Ruiz clocked a 31:58.9 for 199th, coming in ahead of Benoit's 32:00.2 for 202nd. Soter ran a 32:02.1 for 204th. Senior Andrew Cusmano rounded out MSU's group of seven with a 32:24.6.
"They have created a culture of consistent behaviors and training," Drenth said. "This core group has helped us grow. Our seniors have helped us turn the corner and have stayed the course. They have taken training seriously and things away from practice serious. We need to learn consistency and can be better next year."
Syracuse took home the team title with a score of 82. Colorado finished in second and Stanford was third. Michigan State combined for a tally of 543 to finish 25th.
"The next big component for us is on the track," said Drenth. "You can see growth in the spring that takes effect in the fall. We need to find that footing on the track and get a number of guys in there to qualify for first round of nationals. We need some younger guys in the hunt for points at the conference meet, and then we will see it greatly help the cross country group."
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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