Michigan State University
Big Ten Championships
MSU Women Place Second At Big Ten Cross Country Championships
11/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 2, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's cross country team finished in second place on a rain-soaked day at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships Sunday at Forest Akers East Golf Course. The Spartans, who are ranked No. 6 in the nation, were not able to take advantage of the home course advantage and finished runner-up to No. 10 Michigan for the second year in a row, as the Wolverines placed first with 31 points to MSU's 57. Penn State was third with 76 points, followed by Indiana (164), Wisconsin (167), Minnesota (170), Illinois (188), Ohio State (197), Northwestern (213), Purdue (231) and Iowa (241).
Michigan State senior Michelle Carson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) came up just short in her bid to repeat as individual champion at the Big Ten Championships, placing second on the 6k course in 20:49.1. Michigan's Rebecca Walter, who placed fifth last year, was the individual winner with a time of 20:40.5.
Senior Jamie Krzyminski (Corunna, Mich.), who placed second to Carson at last year's Big Ten meet, was fifth this year in 20:57.7 to earn first-team all-conference honors. Senior Sarah Pepera (Ortonville, Mich.) just missed making first-team all-conference by one spot for the second straight year, placing eighth with a time of 21:20.3.
Senior Cindy Durocher (Parry Sound, Ont.) placed 16th overall with a time of 21:46.0, and redshirt freshman Michelle Rafferty (Carmel, Ind.) was fifth for MSU and 26th overall with a time of 21:58.0.
Also competing but not scoring for MSU were redshirt freshman Brittany Ballard (Midland, Mich.), who finished 41st with a time of 22:24.1, junior Natalie Stein (North Hollywood, Calif.), who placed 52nd with a time of 22:36.1, junior Aimee Keenan (Bellmont, Mich.), who was 71st in 23:03.1, and redshirt freshman Leigha Christian (Rochester Hills, Mich.), who was 89th with a time of 24:02.8.
"We really felt that if we ran well we could run with Michigan," said MSU head coach Jim Stintzi, "but frankly today Michigan outran us and we were a little off our game. Michigan was aggressive at the beginning and a couple of our fourth and fifth runners were not as aggressive. You have to be ready to deal with whatever the race throws at you and Michigan did a real good job at that and we didn't."
Michigan State has now placed in the top two three consecutive years including a team title in 2001. The Spartans earned their third second-place finish all-time (1978, 2002, 2003).
The women's squad will now prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships which will be held Saturday, Nov. 15, in Terre Haute, Ind.
"This will definitely give the women's team some fire for the regionals and NCAAs, because they will want revenge," said Stintzi. "This (second place at the Big Tens) happened to us last year and we ended up beating Michigan at the NCAA Championships, so we are going to try to do that again this year."
Players Mentioned
