Friday, November 12
Evansville, Ind.
Michigan State University
vs
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Photo by: Angela Fieno
Cross Country Men and Women Both Finish Fourth at Great Lakes Regional
11/12/2021 3:30:00 PM | Cross Country
Seven Spartans Earn All-Region Honors
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With 13 Spartans posting personal record times, the Michigan State men's and women's cross country teams both earned fourth-place finishes on Friday in the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals at Angel Mounds course in Evansville, Indiana.
With each coming off All-Big Ten performances two weeks ago, seniors Jenna Magness and Lynsie Gram finished back-to-back in the top-5 of the women's race, while senior Morgan Beadlescomb used a late push to grab third place in the men's race.
"It's incredible to finish the way we did, the Great Lakes region is one of the hardest regions in the country," said Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Lisa Breznau. "So, to be fourth on both sides is really good, especially when you look at the makeup of the top-30 ranked teams and where the top teams in our region sit nationally."
With a pair of top-5 individual finishes, the Spartan women placed fourth with 87 points, as Notre Dame's Maddy Denner (19:55.8) and Olivia Markezich (19:57.7) took the top two spots in the 6K race to propel the Fighting Irish to the regional title (56 points). Big Ten foes Wisconsin (69 points) and Michigan (81 points) finished second and third, while Butler (119 points) rounded out the top-5 schools.
Magness finished fourth at a PR time of 19:59.7, one-tenth of a second behind third-place Addie Engel of Ohio State, while Gram followed Magness in fifth at a PR of 20:07.4. Redshirt junior Makayla Perez and freshman Kaitlyn Hynes also posted PR times to place in the top-25, as Perez ran a 20:21.8 to take 20th. Hynes, the B1G Freshman of the Year, crossed the finish line at 20:29.4 in 24th place. A 20:42.9 PR time earned junior Katie Osika a 34th-place finish, while sophomore Makenna Veen also finished in the top-50, running a PR of 20:55.6 to place 45th. Graduate student Casey Mossholder rounded out the MSU women with a 21:17.1 PR time to finish 67th.
In the men's 10K race, MSU tallied 110 points to place fourth, as the Notre Dame men took the Great Lakes crown with 37 points and six runners finishing in the top-12. Big Ten champion Wisconsin placed second at 87 points, rival Michigan was third (106 points) and Butler took fifth (116 points), despite having the top-2 individual finishers in regional champion Simon Bedard (29:50.0) and Barry Keane (29:51.5).
Beadlescomb used a personal record of 29:53.2 to take third, his best placing in three career NCAA Regional races. Redshirt junior Fraser Wilson followed up a strong showing at the Big Ten Championships, taking 17th at a PR time of 30:10.3, while junior James Uhlenberg also posted a PR time by running a 30:23.2 to take 25th. Another redshirt junior, Abdi Ahmed, placed 28th by running a PR of 30:33.6 in his second career 10K race, and senior John Petruno also ran a PR time of 30:49.8 to finish in 37th. Sophomore Brendan Favazza placed 45th with a PR time of 30:56.5, and fellow sophomore Nathan Larson posted a 31:26.2 time to finish 71st in his first career 10K race.
"More than anything for the men, just having veterans that have raced in the championship portion of the season, they know how to show up, they know how to keep the group calm," said Breznau. "With some adversity on their side this past week, for them to not only remain calm but execute as well was huge."
"On the women's side, same idea," added Breznau. "Heading into championship season, when you have some veterans that know how to manage the emotional, the mental and physical side of things at this time of the season, it's everything. From seniors to freshmen, everyone is still learning and evolving, but there's definitely a little bit more learning going on for our younger runners right now."
The top-25 finishes earned Magness, Gram, Perez and Hynes spots on the women's All-Great Lakes Region Team, while Beadlescomb, Wilson and Uhlenberg picked up all-region selections on the men's side.
"It was as a complete team effort on each side," added Breznau. "We always push the team idea and having everyone in it racing for one another, and that's exactly what we saw today. At the front we definitely had some strong performances out of Morgan, Jenna, Lynsie and Fraser, but everyone (in the lineup) just kept rolling. I can honestly say that both full squads put 100-percent effort into the day, and because of that it looks like they have a chance to head to nationals next week."
Michigan State will await Saturday's NCAA selection show at 5 p.m. for team and individual berths at the 2021 National Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.
With each coming off All-Big Ten performances two weeks ago, seniors Jenna Magness and Lynsie Gram finished back-to-back in the top-5 of the women's race, while senior Morgan Beadlescomb used a late push to grab third place in the men's race.
"It's incredible to finish the way we did, the Great Lakes region is one of the hardest regions in the country," said Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Lisa Breznau. "So, to be fourth on both sides is really good, especially when you look at the makeup of the top-30 ranked teams and where the top teams in our region sit nationally."
With a pair of top-5 individual finishes, the Spartan women placed fourth with 87 points, as Notre Dame's Maddy Denner (19:55.8) and Olivia Markezich (19:57.7) took the top two spots in the 6K race to propel the Fighting Irish to the regional title (56 points). Big Ten foes Wisconsin (69 points) and Michigan (81 points) finished second and third, while Butler (119 points) rounded out the top-5 schools.
Magness finished fourth at a PR time of 19:59.7, one-tenth of a second behind third-place Addie Engel of Ohio State, while Gram followed Magness in fifth at a PR of 20:07.4. Redshirt junior Makayla Perez and freshman Kaitlyn Hynes also posted PR times to place in the top-25, as Perez ran a 20:21.8 to take 20th. Hynes, the B1G Freshman of the Year, crossed the finish line at 20:29.4 in 24th place. A 20:42.9 PR time earned junior Katie Osika a 34th-place finish, while sophomore Makenna Veen also finished in the top-50, running a PR of 20:55.6 to place 45th. Graduate student Casey Mossholder rounded out the MSU women with a 21:17.1 PR time to finish 67th.
In the men's 10K race, MSU tallied 110 points to place fourth, as the Notre Dame men took the Great Lakes crown with 37 points and six runners finishing in the top-12. Big Ten champion Wisconsin placed second at 87 points, rival Michigan was third (106 points) and Butler took fifth (116 points), despite having the top-2 individual finishers in regional champion Simon Bedard (29:50.0) and Barry Keane (29:51.5).
Beadlescomb used a personal record of 29:53.2 to take third, his best placing in three career NCAA Regional races. Redshirt junior Fraser Wilson followed up a strong showing at the Big Ten Championships, taking 17th at a PR time of 30:10.3, while junior James Uhlenberg also posted a PR time by running a 30:23.2 to take 25th. Another redshirt junior, Abdi Ahmed, placed 28th by running a PR of 30:33.6 in his second career 10K race, and senior John Petruno also ran a PR time of 30:49.8 to finish in 37th. Sophomore Brendan Favazza placed 45th with a PR time of 30:56.5, and fellow sophomore Nathan Larson posted a 31:26.2 time to finish 71st in his first career 10K race.
"More than anything for the men, just having veterans that have raced in the championship portion of the season, they know how to show up, they know how to keep the group calm," said Breznau. "With some adversity on their side this past week, for them to not only remain calm but execute as well was huge."
"On the women's side, same idea," added Breznau. "Heading into championship season, when you have some veterans that know how to manage the emotional, the mental and physical side of things at this time of the season, it's everything. From seniors to freshmen, everyone is still learning and evolving, but there's definitely a little bit more learning going on for our younger runners right now."
The top-25 finishes earned Magness, Gram, Perez and Hynes spots on the women's All-Great Lakes Region Team, while Beadlescomb, Wilson and Uhlenberg picked up all-region selections on the men's side.
"It was as a complete team effort on each side," added Breznau. "We always push the team idea and having everyone in it racing for one another, and that's exactly what we saw today. At the front we definitely had some strong performances out of Morgan, Jenna, Lynsie and Fraser, but everyone (in the lineup) just kept rolling. I can honestly say that both full squads put 100-percent effort into the day, and because of that it looks like they have a chance to head to nationals next week."
Michigan State will await Saturday's NCAA selection show at 5 p.m. for team and individual berths at the 2021 National Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.
Players Mentioned
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