Michigan State University
NCAA Championships
Katie Osika Earns All-American Honors at NCAA Cross Country Championships
11/19/2022 11:56:00 AM | Cross Country
STILLWATER, Okla. - Highlighted by an All-American finish from graduate student Katie Osika, Michigan State cross country wrapped up the season at the NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday morning at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.Â
"I thought our women showed incredible poise and trust, staying with the race and passing seven teams in the last 2000 meters. Katie Osika has been a leader this entire season and her leadership resulted in an All American finish today," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Lisa Breznau said. "CarLee Stimpfel and Aden Smith had solid performances for their first NCAA DI Championships. As always, we'll look for opportunities to learn and grow from here."
Osika, who finished 33rd overall, earned the first All-American honor of her career. In 112th place through three kilometers, she moved up 79 spots over the second half of the race to secure the second-team nod in 20:11 for 6k. Osika becomes the 30th Spartan to earn All-American honors for the Michigan State women in cross country.Â
Junior Makenna Veen followed in 115th place, running 20:43, while sophomore Kaitlyn Hynes placed 125th in 20:46 for the third sub-21 performance of the day for the Spartans. Sophomore Kate Stewart-Barnett set a personal best in 21:02 for 164th place. Senior Lauren Freeland placed 166th in 21:03 to round out the scorers for Michigan State.Â
Graduate student Grace Molloy placed 175th in 21:07 and junior Emily Bardwell finished in 21:20 for 200th. Â
The MSU women finished 20th in the team race with 497 points. NC State claimed the team title for the second year in a row (114), followed by New Mexico (140) and Alabama (166). NC State's Katelyn Tuohy took the individual title.Â
On the men's side, graduate student CarLee Stimpfel and senior Aden Smith recorded top-200 finishes in their first NCAA championship appearances. Stimpfel completed the 10k course in 30:46 for 172nd place, while Smith ran 30:47 for 174th.Â
Northern Arizona (83) won the team title on a tiebreaker against Oklahoma State, followed by BYU (132). Charles Hicks of Stanford claimed the individual title.Â
"I thought our women were incredible this season. They established their identity and values and pursued racing with a team first mentality," continued Breznau. "Our young squad had to grow in order to be the team we know they can be next fall. Our men's team continues to grow and learn. I thought we came up short of a few of our goals. We will evaluate and look for consistency moving forward."
The Spartans return to action with the indoor track season, set to begin in December.Â
