Michigan State University
Jeff Drenth Memorial Race
Spartans Open 2015 Season at Drenth With Top Finishes
9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Women's Results | Men's Results
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State cross country program opened its 2015 season with a pair of top-five finishes at the 30th Annual Jeff Drenth Memorial Race at the Pleasant Hills Golf Course in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, on Friday, Sept. 4.
"We are looking for a lot of things," said head coach Walt Drenth. "This is a time for teaching them some behavioral patterns and hoping that they listen. We recognize that they won't the first time through. There are a lot of things we are just trying to work on and get the bugs out while teaching them our system. Overall, I was pretty happy with the way we went about it."
Erin McDonald led the No. 3-ranked Spartans with a first-place finish in the women's race, clocking a 17:23.92. Molly Jeakle rounded out the top five of the women's competition with an 18:23. Jenny Rogers and Jessica Goethals closely followed Jeakle, cross the line in sixth (18:24.21) and seventh (18:38.35), respectively. MSU's top seven was capped off by Lauren Jenkins (19:00.44 - 10th place), Natalie Monroe (19:07.06 - 12th place) and Sarah Knight (19:18.64 - 13th place).
On the men's side, coming in ranked No. 28, the Spartans placed three harriers inside the top 10. Austin Wissler paced the group with a 16:00.99 to take seventh. Tommy Osika was in close pursuit with a 16:05.50 for eighth place. Andrew Kitto's 16:21.55 performance earned him a 10th-place finish, while Daniel Kroth's 16:23.75 took 11th. Andrew O'Connor and Ed Clifton raced to top-15 finishes with a 16:26.72 (13th place) and a 17:10.88 (15th place), respectively.
"I don't think there were any surprises," Drenth said. "This is not a big surprise sport because you see it in practice. People that had good practices and a good camp have done well. I guess if there was one surprise, it was Jessica Goethals. She had a good run. For her, probably the best since she been in school. We expected Erin McDonald to be right in it and really think she can help us. It was a good start."
Due to concerns with weather earlier in the week, the coaches decided to run with a combined start. There was no team score kept, with host Central Michigan and Alma also participating in the event.
MSU's top returners from a year ago did not race in Friday's competition, giving the Spartans' youth an opportunity to prepare for the fall. MSU returns on Sept. 18 at the Spartan Invite at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing.
Players Mentioned
