Friday, November 15
Madison, Wis.
12:30 PM (ET) / 1:30 PM (ET)
Michigan State University
vs
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Women’s Cross Country Earns Automatic Bid to NCAA Championships
11/15/2019 4:59:00 PM | Cross Country
The No. 6 Spartans captured the Great Lakes Region title, placing all five scoring runners in the top-19.
MADISON, Wis. – Michigan State women's cross country earned an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Championships next weekend after racing to a first-place finish with 49 points at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on the Zimmer Championship Course Friday afternoon.
"They've been dialed in all year, but one of the things I've been really proud of with this group – and you've seen this in the past from us – is every time we race, we seem to be a little bit better," Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Walt Drenth said. "Thinking about the progress that they've made and their sense of purpose is really fun; they set some serious goals when we started the season."
The No. 6-ranked Spartan women advance to their 19th-consecutive NCAA Championship, as MSU captured the Great Lakes Region title for the first time since 2014.
"For us, being the best versions of themselves, what we mean is being all in; solving their problems, looking for someone to help – really just maximizing themselves on that day," Associate head coach Lisa Senakiewich said. "It doesn't mean comparing themselves to where they were at the previous race or where they were at last year at this time, it's just them being at their best, today."
Michigan State placed all five scoring runners in the top-19, tallying 49 points, navigating a muddy course in Madison. The No. 6 Spartans outran No. 11 Michigan and No. 7 Wisconsin, with the Wolverines placing second with 74 points and Wisconsin coming in third with 100 points, to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
The Spartans surged into the lead at the 4k split and never looked back. After being down at the 2k split, MSU then led by 12 points 2,000 meters later. MSU continued to gain momentum, placing all five of the scoring runners in the top-20, a feat no other team in the field accomplished.
The depth of the Spartan women's team, which has been evident all season, was once again on display in Madison. MSU was without junior India Johnson, who placed 14th at the Big Ten Championships, due to injury.
Senior Annie Fuller led the way for the Spartans, turning in a personal best time of 20:01.1 in the women's 6k to become the Great Lakes Region runner-up.
"While the depth is there, that's not necessarily everything," Senakiewich said. "You have to have everyone on the same page and that really shined today without having India (Johnson) in there. We had some women, in a sense just step up. They are always racing at their best but today was an even greater example of that."
Michigan State turned in a 7-8 punch with sophomore Jenna Magness and senior Lynsie Gram also turning in personal bests for seventh and eighth place, respectively. Magness clocked in at 20:25.7, while Gram, running in only her third race of the season, closed out the top-10 for the Spartans with a time of 20:30.6. Senior Jeralyn Poe was close behind, placing 13th with a time of 20:44.8. Junior Sarah Kettel clocked in with a personal best time at 20:51.6 for 19th place to close out the scoring for the Spartans.
Juniors Maggie Farrell (29th - 21:02.8) and Lindsey Rudden (32nd - 21:07.0) rounded out the Spartan runners on the Zimmer Championship Course.
The Spartan men finished in sixth place, tallying 170 points. Junior Morgan Beadlescomb captured sixth place in the 10k with a personal best time of 30:16.2, putting him in a position to qualify individually for the NCAA Championships.
"I thought the men were outstanding; I think that was our best day," Drenth said. "I thought from the standpoint of putting a bunch of young guys into 10,000 meters, their first one in a championship event like this, we were better than we were at the conference meet. I thought we were a bit more purposeful and followed the race plan."
This was the first 10k of the season for the men, and the first at that distance for some of the younger Spartan runners, including freshmen Abdi Ahmed and Fraser Wilson.
Wilson turned in the next best time for MSU, placing 30th with a time of 31:03.4. Senior Matthew Thomas turned in a personal-best time (40th - 31:22.6), sophomore John Petruno (42nd – 31:29.6) and freshman Abdi Ahmed (52nd - 31:40.0) all had scoring runs for the Spartans.
The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Selection Show will air this Saturday, November 16th at 5:00 PM ET on NCAA.com
The top-two finishers in each regional automatically qualify for the national championships, equating to 18 immediate team qualifiers. The top-four individual finishers that are not members of qualifying teams will enter the championships as individuals. Two additional individuals and 13 at-large teams will be selected by the committee to round out the 255 total participants.
UP NEXT: The Spartan women will travel to Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 23 for the 2019 NCAA Championships.
"They've been dialed in all year, but one of the things I've been really proud of with this group – and you've seen this in the past from us – is every time we race, we seem to be a little bit better," Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Walt Drenth said. "Thinking about the progress that they've made and their sense of purpose is really fun; they set some serious goals when we started the season."
The No. 6-ranked Spartan women advance to their 19th-consecutive NCAA Championship, as MSU captured the Great Lakes Region title for the first time since 2014.
"For us, being the best versions of themselves, what we mean is being all in; solving their problems, looking for someone to help – really just maximizing themselves on that day," Associate head coach Lisa Senakiewich said. "It doesn't mean comparing themselves to where they were at the previous race or where they were at last year at this time, it's just them being at their best, today."
Michigan State placed all five scoring runners in the top-19, tallying 49 points, navigating a muddy course in Madison. The No. 6 Spartans outran No. 11 Michigan and No. 7 Wisconsin, with the Wolverines placing second with 74 points and Wisconsin coming in third with 100 points, to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
The Spartans surged into the lead at the 4k split and never looked back. After being down at the 2k split, MSU then led by 12 points 2,000 meters later. MSU continued to gain momentum, placing all five of the scoring runners in the top-20, a feat no other team in the field accomplished.
The depth of the Spartan women's team, which has been evident all season, was once again on display in Madison. MSU was without junior India Johnson, who placed 14th at the Big Ten Championships, due to injury.
Senior Annie Fuller led the way for the Spartans, turning in a personal best time of 20:01.1 in the women's 6k to become the Great Lakes Region runner-up.
"While the depth is there, that's not necessarily everything," Senakiewich said. "You have to have everyone on the same page and that really shined today without having India (Johnson) in there. We had some women, in a sense just step up. They are always racing at their best but today was an even greater example of that."
Michigan State turned in a 7-8 punch with sophomore Jenna Magness and senior Lynsie Gram also turning in personal bests for seventh and eighth place, respectively. Magness clocked in at 20:25.7, while Gram, running in only her third race of the season, closed out the top-10 for the Spartans with a time of 20:30.6. Senior Jeralyn Poe was close behind, placing 13th with a time of 20:44.8. Junior Sarah Kettel clocked in with a personal best time at 20:51.6 for 19th place to close out the scoring for the Spartans.
Juniors Maggie Farrell (29th - 21:02.8) and Lindsey Rudden (32nd - 21:07.0) rounded out the Spartan runners on the Zimmer Championship Course.
The Spartan men finished in sixth place, tallying 170 points. Junior Morgan Beadlescomb captured sixth place in the 10k with a personal best time of 30:16.2, putting him in a position to qualify individually for the NCAA Championships.
"I thought the men were outstanding; I think that was our best day," Drenth said. "I thought from the standpoint of putting a bunch of young guys into 10,000 meters, their first one in a championship event like this, we were better than we were at the conference meet. I thought we were a bit more purposeful and followed the race plan."
This was the first 10k of the season for the men, and the first at that distance for some of the younger Spartan runners, including freshmen Abdi Ahmed and Fraser Wilson.
Wilson turned in the next best time for MSU, placing 30th with a time of 31:03.4. Senior Matthew Thomas turned in a personal-best time (40th - 31:22.6), sophomore John Petruno (42nd – 31:29.6) and freshman Abdi Ahmed (52nd - 31:40.0) all had scoring runs for the Spartans.
The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Selection Show will air this Saturday, November 16th at 5:00 PM ET on NCAA.com
The top-two finishers in each regional automatically qualify for the national championships, equating to 18 immediate team qualifiers. The top-four individual finishers that are not members of qualifying teams will enter the championships as individuals. Two additional individuals and 13 at-large teams will be selected by the committee to round out the 255 total participants.
UP NEXT: The Spartan women will travel to Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 23 for the 2019 NCAA Championships.
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