Spartans Open 2016 Season at Jeff Drenth Memorial
9/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan State men's and women's cross country teams begin the 2016 season at the 31st annual Jeff Drenth Memorial race on Friday, Sept. 2, at the Pleasant Hills Golf Course in Mount Pleasant.
The men's race is slated to start at 10 a.m. with the women's contest to follow directly after.
"We will run most of our younger athletes and the people that are trying to get back into competition mode," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth.
Both the men's and women's programs enter the weekend ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) Preseason Regional and National polls. The women nabbed first in the Great Lakes Region poll and 10th in the national rankings. The Spartan men were picked to finish fourth in the Great Lakes Region.
"I am excited for the season. We have seen camp, and we can be competitive," Drenth said. "Our expectations are high. I think we have a good chance to get both teams back to the nationals. I want to get in the upper tier for both groups at the Big Ten Championship."
The women return two All-Americans in seniors Rachele Schulist and Alexis Wiersma, who will help be the catalysts on the women's side. Schulist was injured for most of the 2015 season, but was named an All-American after taking fourth at the NCAA Championships in 2014. Wiersma finished her 2015 campaign first-team All-Big Ten, first-team All-Regional and All-American with a 21st-place finish the NCAA Championships.
The men are welcoming back senior Clark Ruiz and redshirt senior Sherod Hardt. Ruiz garnered second team All-Big Ten honors last season, while Hardt comes to the line as a two-time all-region performer.
"We have a more mature group, people that are leaders," said Drenth. "We have a little more refined of a group from our last year's true freshmen. I would expect kind of everywhere in between. We have gotten better, and I would say we see improvement in a lot of places."
The Drenth Memorial is named for the late Jeff Drenth, brother to Michigan State's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field. Jeff, who died in 1986 while training, is a member of the Central Michigan University Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame.
Players Mentioned
