Rachel Forsyth Named Great Lakes Region Women’s Runner of the Year

EAST LANSING, Mich. – After a strong freshman campaign, Rachel Forsyth was named Great Lakes Region Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year.

She was coming off a 16th-place finish in the NCAA Championships, finishing the 6k race with a time of 19:49.1 on Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin. She led the Michigan State women’s cross country team to a 21st-place finish in the NCAA Championship.

Forsyth earned first-team All-American honors for her strong performance. She is the first Spartan to earn first-team honors since Jenna Magness in 2021. She was also named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after finishing fourth in the Big Ten Championship in Champaign, Illinois in earlier this month.

This is the fifth time that a Spartan has earned Great Lakes Region Women’s Runner of the Year. The last Spartan to earn the honor was Magness in 2020. Leah O’Connor also captured the award in 2014, which was the same year that Michigan State won the National Championship. Emily MacLeod earned the award in both 2009 and 2010.