Emily MacLeod Named Big Ten Athlete of the Year
11/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 2, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. - As announced by the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday, Nov. 2, senior Emily MacLeod was named Big Ten Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year following her championship run this past weekend at the Big Ten Championships. Director of cross country and track & field Walt Drenth joined MacLeod with postseason honors as he received Big Ten Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.
MacLeod earns Athlete of the Year recognition after leading Michigan State to its third Big Ten Championship in program history and the first since 2001. The senior completed the six-kilometer course in 19:53.8, marking the third-best 6K time in Big Ten Championships history. MacLeod was named Big Ten Runner of the Week twice this season and earned All-Big Ten first-team status for the second year in a row after finishing sixth in last year's championship. MacLeod has led the Green and White in every race she has competed in this year with the team's top time.
 Director of cross country and track & field Walt  | |
Also recognized by the conference was senior Patrick Grosskopf and junior Carlie Green as MSU's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipients.
The two Spartans join 19 other cross country athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated strong citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
These student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the academic year.
Carlie Green finished second for the Spartans, and 7th overall, with a time of 20:34.4 last weekend at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Wisconsin. Green joined MacLeod with first-team All-Big Ten honors, marking the first time she has received all-conference distinction.
Patrick Grosskopf placed second on the team, crossing the finish line with a time of 24:18.2 for 23rd place overall.
The Spartans return to action Nov. 13 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by Oakland University.
