Michigan State University
Great Lakes Regional
Six Spartans Capture All-Region Honors, as Both XC Teams Finish Fourth at Great Lakes Regional Championship
11/14/2025 5:13:00 PM | Cross Country
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - For the second-straight season six Michigan State cross country runners earned All-Region honors at the Great Lakes Regional Championships in Evansville, Indiana on Friday.
Also for the second-straight year, the women took fourth place in the Great Lake Regionals 6k race, while the men were fourth in the 10k race.
The women were fourth with 107 points behind Notre Dame (22), Wisconsin (95) and Toledo (104). The Spartans were led by a third-place finish from All-American Rachel Forsyth, who finished with a season-best time of 19:45.2. Paige Marchant finished 21st, also reaching a season-best time of 20:30.4, while Taylor Pangburn set a new personal best (20:35.9) to finish 25th. Forsyth, Marchant and Pangburn all earned All-Region honors.
Makenna Veen was just outside the All-Region mark, finishing 27th with a time of 20:37.1, while Sophia Lucki rounded out the top five, crossing the line in 20:58.4, which was good for 36th.
The Michigan State men matched last year's performance, finishing fourth with 103 points. Notre Dame also won on the men's side with 60 points, followed by Butler (75) and Wisconsin (99). Riley Hough once again was the Spartans' top runner, finishing 10th, crossing the line in 29:58.11 in the 10k race. Standout freshman Thomas Westphal was 12th in his first collegiate 10k (30:06.0). Jack Pennewell ended 22nd with a time of 30:28.3. Hough, Westphal and Pennewell all earned All-Region honors. Hough and Pennewell both repeated as All-Region honorees.
Moses Osterink crossed the line in 30:35.2, which was good for 26th, while Michael Hegarty ran a personal-best time 30:51.1 to finish 33rd.
This year was the fourth time in the last five years that at least six Spartans between both teams claimed the All-Region honors and the 15th time in the last 17 seasons with six plus runners earned the accolade.
The No. 13 Spartan men are the top ranked team in the Great Lakes Regional, along with No. 14 Butler, No.15 Wisconsin, No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 26 Michigan. On the women's side, there are three ranked teams in the field with No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 23 Michigan State and No. 25 Wisconsin.
The top two teams in each regional secure automatic bids to the championship. The first four regional finishers not from an automatic qualifying or at-large team also secure an auto-bid to the championships. If a team doesn't secure an automatic bid, it will have to rely on the NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee to select it as one of the 13 at-large teams. Only two individual at-larges are selected, making a strong regional performance pivotal to advancing toward a national title.
The NCAA Selection Show is Saturday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
