College cross country and track

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Events list

Darling 13th + Big Ten, regional champ MSU women 23rd at NCAA

The Big Ten and NCAA Great Lakes Regional champion Michigan State University women’s cross country team finished 23rd and former Ovid-Elsie star and three-time Division 3 state champion Maverick Darling took 13th in a 10K time of 30:07 for the third-place Wisconsin men on Monday in the NCAA Division I national meet at Terre Haute, Ind.

Darling earned All-American honors, which go to the top 25 finishers at the national meet.

The Spartans' Emily MacLeod came in 37th in the 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) women's race in 20:49, and Patrick Grosskopf of Corunna was 206th in 32:18 as MSU's only competitor in the men's race.

Junior Carlie Green (21:22) took 104th, junior Rebekah Smeltzer (21:32) 122nd, sophomore Kristen Smith (21:48) 157th, and freshman Julia Otwell (22:15) 199th for the Spartans.

See the MSU web site for more details plus team and individual results.

The Spartan women advanced by edging Michigan 80-96 to win the regional on Saturday at Oakland University’s Katke-Cousins Golf Course in Rochester two weeks after topping the Wolverines 74-88 at the Big Ten meet.

MacLeod, the reigning NCAA Great Lakes Regional Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Athlete of the Year, became the first Spartan in program history to win the regional race in back-to-back years. Her 2010 time was 20:18.

Other top finishers for MSU’s first regional champion since 2007 were Green (sixth in 20:41), Smeltzer (11th in 20:53), Smith (30th in 21:32) and Otwell (32nd in 21:38).

MSU finished fifth in the men’s race won by Big Ten champion Wisconsin and Darling (Ovid-Elsie), who took sixth in a 10K (6.2-mile) time of 30:31 as the Badgers’ second runner.

The Spartans’ top finishers were Grosskopf (13th in 30:39), sophomores Isaiah Vandoorne (29th in 31:09) and Ben Miller (30th in 31:10), freshman Sherod Hardt (37th in 31:19) and senior Alex Russeau (39th in 31:21). The MSU men will find out today whether they earned an at-large berth into the national meet.

Freshman Morsi Rayyan (St. Johns) placed 72nd in 32:05 as the fifth runner for seventh-place Michigan, while senior Chris Pankow (Williamston) was 110th in 32:46 for 19th-place Central MIchigan among 31 teams.

Senior Danielle Dakroub (Okemos) took 62nd in 22:02 as eighth-place CMU’s fourth runner, and freshman Amaya Ayers (Laingsburg) 177th in 24:07 as 24th-place Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne’s fourth runner among 33 women’s teams.

See a preview story from the Lansing State Journal.

MacLeod won the Big Ten 6K women's race in a career-best 19:54.

Darling (23:51), a sophomore and former three-time Greater Lansing Cross Country Championships winner, took sixth place in the men's 8K race to help Wisconsin repeat as league champions.

The Spartan men came in fifth place as Miller (24:09) took 16th and Grosskopf (24:19) was 23rd. Rayyan (25:07) was 55th place as seventh-place Michigan's fourth runner.

MacLeod and Darling repeated as first team all-Big Ten. A year ago, Darling and MacLeod took fourth and sixth, while the MSU women were fifth and the MSU men eighth.

The photo of MSU women's team after winning the Big Ten title (including junior Emily Langenberg of Grand Ledge next to coach Walt Drenth on the far left) taken by Walt Middleton appears courtesty of MSUSpartans.com.

See the Michigan State web site for links and more

LCC women finish highest-ever 3rd, men 5th in NJCAA nationals

The Lansing Community College women’s cross country team earned its highest-ever finish with a third place on Saturday in Spartanburg, S.C., at the National Junior College Athletic Association national meet, while the men’s team finished fifth of 36 teams.

Jennifer Snelgrove (Grand Ledge) took ninth in a 5K time of 18:25, Ashley Hamilton (Charlotte) 12th in 18:38, Ellory Green (Brighton) 16th in 18:46, Kaylin Belair (Erie Mason) 18th in 18:53 and Brooke Simon (Fowler) 32nd in 19:16 for the LCC women, who finished 5-10-10-9-8 the previous five years.

Jake Hord (Linden) came in 20th in an 8K time of 25:50, Eric Spitz (Holt) 27th in 25:58, Gareth Gose (Leslie) 34th in 26:08, Austin Alcala (Ionia) 49th in 26:26, Ryan Konen (Grand Ledge) 66th in 26:45 for the Stars men, who have finished 9-8-1-10-10 the past five years.

Click here to see links for complete NJCAA national meet results from Spartanburg, S.C.

The Stars have won their regional men’s meet every year since Chuck Block took over as coach in 2000, and the women’s meet every year but one.
Here are complete regional results from Oct. 30 at Grand Woods Park of Delta Township west of Lansing and photos taken by ike Lea for RunMichigan.com as well as the last NJCAA rankings.

Former Grand Ledge star Jennifer Snelgrove won the 5K women’s race at regionals, and Eric Spitz of Holt finished runner-up in the men's 8K race.

Prior to regionals, the Stars women’s team placed sixth at the 19-team Bowling Green Invitational. Jennifer Snelgrove (Grand Ledge) took 10th in a 6-kilometer time of 22:17, Ellory Green (Brighton) 17th in 22:31, Ashley Hamilton (Charlotte) 39th in 23:02, Brooke Simon (Fowler) 44th in 23:08, Kaylin Belair (Erie Mason) 51st in 23:17, Shelby Thren (Remus Chippewa Hills) 74th in 24:09 and Randi Smith (DeWitt) 76th in 24:10. Taylor Knoll (Warren) ran 24:11, Ashley Steers (Leslie) 24:50 and Paige Terbush (Caro) 25:42.

The LCC men’s team finished 10th at Bowling Green, and Jake Hord (Linden) was 35th in an 8K time of 25:57, Kevin Barry (Waverly) 52nd in 26:33, Gareth Gose (Leslie) 53rd in 26:35, Eric Spitz (Holt) 58th in 26:45, Ryan Konen (Grand Ledge) 62nd in 26:53, Austin Alcala (Ionia) 70th in 27:06 and Joey Rizzolo (Stockbridge) 73rd in 27:16. Tommy Matuszak (Caro) also ran 27:19, Nick Flietstra (Potterville) 27:22 and Ryan Gilbert (Lansing Eastern) 27:26.

Pictured (from left) are Gilbert, Alcala, Spitz, Snelgrove and Simon.