Cross Country Sweeps 38th Annual Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational

Friday, September 14

East Lansing, Mich.

Michigan State University

Auto Owners/Playmakers Spartan Invitational

Meet Website

Cross Country Sweeps 38th Annual Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational

9/14/2018 5:15:00 PM | Cross Country

Meet Results

The Spartans raced to first place team finishes at Forest Akers East Golf Course

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Redshirt-senior Erin McDonald took first place on the women's side, while Matthew Thomas turned in a fifth place finish for the men, leading Michigan State's cross country team to a first place sweep at the Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational Friday on Forest Akers East Golf Course.

The Spartan women, currently ranked No. 15 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association poll, placed eight in the top 10 to score 20 points, well ahead of second place Grand Valley State (58). The 24th-ranked men placed three in the top 10 to score 55, three points ahead of rival Michigan (58).

"I think with both groups we got what we wanted out of today," Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth said. "Mostly what you want to do is learn something. We haven't done a lot of objective work that I can start measuring, and today was the first real measurement under stress. I thought it was a pretty good start."

McDonald broke the tape in the 6k women's race with a time of 20:39.6, improving on her second place finish in 2017 by 44 seconds (21:23.9). Sophomore teammate Maggie Farrell crossed the finish line in 20:43.9 to take second place, and senior Amber Way posted a time of 21:30.6 to finish in fourth place.

A pack of Spartan runners rounded out the top 10, including redshirt-junior Lynsie Gram (sixth-21:45.5), sophomore India Johnson (seventh-21:46.2), redshirt-junior Annie Fuller (eighth-21:58.1), redshirt-senior Kayla Kavulich (ninth-22:00.4), and redshirt-junior Karrigan Smith (10th-22:04.9).

"I thought we took a pretty good first step forward," Drenth said. "Really good patient running, I liked the way they let the race unfold and asserted themselves late. We saw growth out of some people we're excited about. India Johnson was outstanding and Amber Way looks like she's come back to form. The top two (Erin and Maggie) are both good, and this group makes what I think is a pretty good team."

Redshirt-junior Matthew Thomas turned in a time of 25:15.4 to lead the men's team in the 8k race friday afternoon, trailed closely by redshirt-senior Justine Kiprotich, who came in sixth place (25:17.9). Kiprotich, an NCAA runner-up in the 1,500 meters turned in his best time at the longer cross country distance.

Redshirt-junior Winter Romeyn finished ninth (25:24.1), and sophomore Joe Riordan came in 16th with a time of 25:37.5. Redshirt-senior Dan Sims (26th-25:53.7), and redshirt-senior Brian Kettle (28th-25:54.9) rounded out top times for MSU.

"I was really pleased with Justine's progress," Drenth said. "I thought he was really tough, probably as tough as I've seen him. Matt Thomas was outstanding, and I thought Winter did a great job of running well late. There were several bright spots out there for me. We'll clean a lot of things up, I'm pretty optimistic for both of our groups."

Notes: Junior Morgan Beadlescomb ran unattached, and finished third on the men's side with a time of 25:07.8. Freshman Abdifetah Ahmed also ran unnattached, finishing 11th (25:32.2).

Up Next: The Spartans head to Centerville, Mich., for the Glen Oaks Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 22.