Spartan Cross Country Travels to Columbus for Big Ten Championships

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State cross country begins championship season on Sunday, Nov. 3 at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships. Both teams will traverse the Ohio State University Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday morning.

The men's 8k race will begin at 10:45 a.m., with the women's 6k race following at 11:45 a.m.

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"I think it's just an opportunity to explore everything that we've learned through the course of the year," Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Walt Drenth said. "It's an opportunity for the men to get back on track. It's an opportunity for the women to continue with the momentum they've really established. I think it's an opportunity for every athlete that participates to show that practices are going well and they're ready to run."

This year's Big Ten Championships features a highly competitive field in both the men's and women's races.

"It's one of the things that makes this really exciting is it's probably the best collection combined of women's cross country teams in the country – and men's for that matter," Drenth said. "There's a lot of ranked teams and it gives you a great national perspective. From that perspective, it's why people come to school at Michigan State. They get a chance to be involved in an event like this and to test themselves at the highest level."

On the women's side, No. 9 Michigan State is joined by two other top-10 teams, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Michigan. Five other ranked opponents will join the Spartan women at the starting line: No. 18 Penn State, No. 19 Illinois, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 23 Indiana and No. 25 Minnesota.

Four ranked teams sit among the top in the men's race, including No. 9 Purdue, No. 13 Indiana, No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 17 Michigan.

At the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational two weeks ago, the Spartan women raced to a fifth place finish in a field of 20 ranked teams. MSU finished just two points short of the Badgers in the team standings, who finished fourth.

On the Zimmer Championship Course, redshirt-senior Annie Fuller led the way for the Spartans on the women's side with a career-best time of 20:13.2 for 13^th place. On the men's side, junior Morgan Beadlescomb finished seventh overall also with a career-best time of 23:47.3.

The women's team finished second at the Big Ten Championships last year in Lincoln, Nebraska, with all seven runners placing in the top-35 for 75 points, while the men raced to a fifth-place finish.

The MSU men are tied for second in conference history with Indiana, claiming 14 B1G titles. The Spartan women are third in Big Ten history with six conference championships.

The Big Ten Cross Country Championships will be televised live on BTN+ and FloTrack beginning at 10:45 a.m. Highlights of the meet will also air on BTN on Monday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

"It's great preparation for what we do next. The Regionals are similar to our conference meet, with a bigger number of teams. If we do well in this meet, it's going to give us confidence as we go forward," Drenth said.

Following the Big Ten Championships, Michigan State travels to Madison, Wisconsin, for the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals on Friday, Nov. 15.

Spartan Cross Country Travels to Columbus for Big Ten Championships

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Beadlescomb

Annie Fuller