Cross Country Opens 2019 Season at Jeff Drenth Memorial

Friday, August 30

Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

10:00 AM / 10:35 AM

Michigan State University

Jeff Drenth Memorial

8/29/2019 4:12:00 PM | Cross Country

Spartan men's and women's cross country travels to CMU for first meet of the season.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's and women's cross country begins the 2019 season Friday morning at the 34th annual Jeff Drenth Memorial race in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The women's open 5k begins at 10 a.m., with the men's open 5k to follow at 10:35 a.m. The races will take place at the Pleasant Hills Golf Course.

"For the program, it's just an opportunity to get started," Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth said. "We look at it as an objective in terms of taking a step forward and teaching the young ones our process of competition. I think they need to understand the rigidity of getting to a meet site and being prepared. There's a lot of things they have to adjust to, so it's good for them to get their eyes open to what our expectations are. Get their feet wet into a college competition which is a little more intense than what they're used to, especially this early in the season."

The Spartan women are ranked 12th in the initial USTFCCCA NCAA Division I National Cross Country Coaches' Poll, following an 11th-place finish at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin.

Lidia Clarizio, Karenna Duffy, Amanda George, Nicole Hanson, Tess Iler, Remmi King, Courtney Krupp, Annika Linzmeier, Makayla Perez, Kate Petsch, Stephanie Vanis and Kayla Wiitala make the group of Spartans running in the opening race.

The Spartan men finished their 2018 campaign with a sixth place finish at the Great Lakes Regionals.

Brenden Allen, Luke Beauchamp, Ty Buckley, Avery Felty, Justin Ferraro, Jack Huber, John Petruno, Harrison Steen and Zacary Wright-Fisher will run on the men's side.

In the initial USTFCCCA Regional Coaches' Rankings, the women's team is ranked fourth in the Great Lakes Region, while the men come in at sixth.

Last season, Michigan State started the cross country season strong at the Jeff Drenth Memorial race, with the women placing first and the men coming in second.

"I think every race is important; you learn something, you have an opportunity for growth," Drenth said. "For us, it's a matter of just taking the steps in the direction of our championship season. We're unique in that what happens between now and the end of October, it has some influence on that part of the season but not as much as how we do in championships. If we run well at the championship events, we'll continue to advance and get a chance to run at the Nationals. If we don't learn, if we don't grow or we're not prepared, when we get to that end of the season, it doesn't matter. Our expectations are high; the team's expectations are high."