Michigan State University
Jeff Drenth Memorial
Michigan State Begins Season with Top Finishes
9/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Women's Results l Men's Results
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Michigan State men's and women's cross country team began the 2016 campaign with top finishes at the 31st annual Jeff Drenth Memorial Race in Mount Pleasant, Michigan Friday, Sept. 2.
"I thought we were pretty good today," said Michigan State Director of Cross Country Walt Drenth. "We had a lot of top finishers on both the men's and women's side and I thought we had a lot of people run pretty well."
The men recorded three top finishes in the 5,000 meter race. Nathan Burnand led the pack for a second place finish with a time of 15:21.96. Andrew Middelton and Matthew Thomas rounded out the top five with third and fourth place finishes. Middleton ran a 15:23.12, while Thomas followed close behind crossing the finish line at 15:23.56.
Michigan State raced against only Central Michigan, finishing in first place with 20 total points to Central Michigan's 38.
"I was pretty happy with the guys, but then the same thing on the women's side," said Drenth. "It was nice to see Nathan Burnand get going again, he has been off and on for almost a year and he ran really well today, which was nice to see."
On the women's side, the No. 1 Great Lakes Region preseason ranked team, finished with six runners in the top 10. Allison Luna led the pack for the Spartans garnering a second place finish with a time of 17:51.38. Nicole Kowalchick was close behind on her third place finish, crossing the finish line at the 17:53.51 mark. Lauren Jenkins, Jessica Goethais, Jenny Rogers and Nichole Clement were the other women's top 10 finishers for the Spartans.
The women also nabbed a first place finish in today's memorial race, earning 23 points to Central Michigan's 37 points.
"We had a lot of people run a personal best and that is pretty hard to do in your first meet. Overall, I thought we had a really good first event," said Drenth.
Michigan States top returners did not race in Friday's competition, giving the Spartans' younger athletes an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming season. Michigan State will return to action on Friday, Sept. 16, at the Spartan Invitational. The invitational is Michigan State's only home event, and it will be hosted at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing beginning at 12 p.m.
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
