Friday, September 12
East Lansing, Mich.
All Day
Michigan State University
vs
Spartan Invite/B1G Preview
MSU Men’s Cross Country Dominates Spartan Invite/B1G Preview
9/12/2025 3:11:00 PM | Cross Country
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's cross country dominated the 44th-annual Spartan Invite/B1G Preview presented by Auto-Owners Insurance at the Forest Akers East Golf Course Friday morning.
The MSU men won the 8k race for the second-straight season with 28 points, while Grand Valley State finished second with 66 points. The Spartan women finished second in the 6k race with 89 points, behind Northwestern with 18 points.
As a preview to the Big Ten Championships on October 31, there were several Big Ten teams participating. After MSU men's first-place finish, Ohio State and Purdue went, 3-4, respectively. Indiana was sixth, while Rutgers was seventh. On the women's side after Northwestern and MSU's 1-2 finish, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, Rutgers and Purdue went 5-6-7-8-9.
Individually, Riley Hough won the men's race with a time of 23:41.1, just shy of his personal-best time of 23:04.4 set at the Big Ten Championships last season. Jack Pennewell, Moses Osterink and Thomas Westphal finished 5-6-7, respectively. Pennewell crossed the line in 23:53.4, while Osterink finished with a time of 23:53.7. Westphal, who is a freshman, ran a time of 23:57.8 in his first Spartan race.
"I think our men were incredible. Really strong day for them. Really great poise, patience and just sense of what they needed to do to move throughout the race," Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Lisa Breznau said. "But really are making the right decisions to stay competitive as a group and just help one another along. It's a long season and just being aware of that. Today is a starting point not an ending point and just encouraging them that we are growing from here. I think on the men's and women's side what we saw was great but not ending here."
Parker Lambers was the final scorer for the Spartans finishing ninth in 24:02.9.
"I thought it was a really nice effort," MSU Head Men's Cross Country Coach Aaron Simoneau said. "I mean, our biggest thing at this point in the year is just kind of keeping a level head. Not getting too high. Not getting too low. We're in a really big phase of our training. And we executed our plan today pretty well. We wanted to be nice and patient. We've a couple of strong leaders that have some good experience mixed in with some young talented guys."
All-American Rachel Forsyth helped guide the Spartans to a second-place result, finishing seventh with a time of 20:31.1. Taylor Pangburn finished 13th with a time of 20:52.2
The trio of Allison Cornell (21:06.0), Madison Osterberg (21:06.4) and Kate Stewart-Barnett (21:07.8) finished 23-24-25.
The Spartans are back in action on Friday, Sept. 26 at the Gans Creek Classic hosted by the University of Missouri.
The MSU men won the 8k race for the second-straight season with 28 points, while Grand Valley State finished second with 66 points. The Spartan women finished second in the 6k race with 89 points, behind Northwestern with 18 points.
As a preview to the Big Ten Championships on October 31, there were several Big Ten teams participating. After MSU men's first-place finish, Ohio State and Purdue went, 3-4, respectively. Indiana was sixth, while Rutgers was seventh. On the women's side after Northwestern and MSU's 1-2 finish, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, Rutgers and Purdue went 5-6-7-8-9.
Individually, Riley Hough won the men's race with a time of 23:41.1, just shy of his personal-best time of 23:04.4 set at the Big Ten Championships last season. Jack Pennewell, Moses Osterink and Thomas Westphal finished 5-6-7, respectively. Pennewell crossed the line in 23:53.4, while Osterink finished with a time of 23:53.7. Westphal, who is a freshman, ran a time of 23:57.8 in his first Spartan race.
"I think our men were incredible. Really strong day for them. Really great poise, patience and just sense of what they needed to do to move throughout the race," Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Lisa Breznau said. "But really are making the right decisions to stay competitive as a group and just help one another along. It's a long season and just being aware of that. Today is a starting point not an ending point and just encouraging them that we are growing from here. I think on the men's and women's side what we saw was great but not ending here."
Parker Lambers was the final scorer for the Spartans finishing ninth in 24:02.9.
"I thought it was a really nice effort," MSU Head Men's Cross Country Coach Aaron Simoneau said. "I mean, our biggest thing at this point in the year is just kind of keeping a level head. Not getting too high. Not getting too low. We're in a really big phase of our training. And we executed our plan today pretty well. We wanted to be nice and patient. We've a couple of strong leaders that have some good experience mixed in with some young talented guys."
All-American Rachel Forsyth helped guide the Spartans to a second-place result, finishing seventh with a time of 20:31.1. Taylor Pangburn finished 13th with a time of 20:52.2
The trio of Allison Cornell (21:06.0), Madison Osterberg (21:06.4) and Kate Stewart-Barnett (21:07.8) finished 23-24-25.
The Spartans are back in action on Friday, Sept. 26 at the Gans Creek Classic hosted by the University of Missouri.
Players Mentioned
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