SAVOY, Ill. – Freshman Rachel Forsyth finished fourth at the hotly-contested Big Ten Cross Country Championships, hosted by the University of Illinois. Overall, the Spartan women finished sixth, while the MSU men were fourth.
This was be the first Big Ten Championships with the four new B1G schools Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. All 18 teams had women’s teams in competition, while 15 teams had men’s teams running.
The day began with Oregon winning the women’s 6k race with 33 points. The Spartans finished sixth with 146 points. Forsyth finished fourth with a stunning time of 19:26.2. It was the best time for a Spartan in a 6k Big Ten Championship, just besting All-American Leah O’Connor who ran a 19:26.3 to win the 2014 title. By finishing fourth, the freshman earned first-team All-Big ten honors.
Four of the five Spartans that scored in the women’s race set new personal bests, including Forsyth. Kaitlyn Hynes finished 13th with a PR time of 19:42.2 to garner second-team All-Big Ten accolades. Kate Stewart-Barnett crossed the line in 20:13.8 to finish 43rd, while Taylor Ewert set a new PR with a time of 20:15.8, which was a personal best. Eleanor Kendall was the final scorer for MSU finishing 65th (20:35.6) for a new PR.
“I’m proud of our women’s growth throughout the season leading into today. We have a relatively inexperienced group, and they continue to learn quickly. The conference is incredibly competitive, and they handled the day well,” Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Lisa Breznau said. “Kaitlyn and Rachel were incredible. They trusted their race plans and maximized the day.”
In the men’s 8k race, Wisconsin captured the title with 46 points with Michigan State finishing fourth with 125 points. All five of the Michigan State scorers recorded new personal-best times. For the second-straight season, Andrew Nolan took home first-team All-B1G honors. This season, he finished eighth with a time of 22:59.3, which was a new personal best. Riley Hough crossed the line in 23:08.4, which was good for 18th. For his efforts, Hough was named second-team All-Big Ten.
Lezawe Osterink was the third Spartan to finish. He crossed the line in 23:14.2, which was good for 24th. Jack Pennewell (23:27.0) and Parker Lambers (23:32.3) finished 35th and…
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