Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley Michigan State's Emily MacLeod ran the best race of her college career at the 2009 NCAA Great Lakes Regional qualifying meet for the national championship. The junior left no doubt about who was the fastest among the 218 runners on the course, winning the 6,000-meter race (3.72 miles) in 20:42.70, more than 9 seconds ahead of runner-up Kaitlyn Peale of the University of Michigan. MacLeod's first-place finish earned her selection as the Great Lakes Regional Woman Athlete of the Year, and propelled the Spartans to a 5th-place finish in the team competition with 121 points. Notre Dame won the team title with 94 points (low score among a team's first 5 finishers wins in cross-country). Ohio State was 2nd with 102, Michigan was 3rd with 104 and Indiana was 4th with 105. MacLeod was followed across the line by junior Carlie Green (11th in 21:26.06), sophomore Rebekah Smeltzer (23rd in 21:42.78), sophomore Tiffany Abrahamian (31st in 21:58.34), and freshman Kristen Smith (55th in 22:24.55). All 5 scorers for Michigan State could return next year since there were 2 juniors, 2 sophomores and 1 freshman. The Michigan State men did better as a team, racing home as runner-ups with 128 points to Wisconsin's 62-point winning score with a 2-3-15-18-24 finish. The 2nd-place finish put Michigan State into the national championship meet. The Spartans were led by the 5th'place finish of junior Patrick Grosskopf in 31:12.98 (5:02 pace), about 9 seconds behind the individual winner, Jeff See of Ohio State (31:03.16). Two hundred and six runners competed in the 10,000-meter race (6.2 miles). Following Grosskopf in for MSU were junior Spencer Beatty (19th in 31:31.98), sophomore Josh McAlary (20th in 31:34.13), sophomore Isaiah VanDoorne (37th in 32:07.43) and freshman Ben Miller (47th in 32:23.74). As with the women's team, all of Michigan State's men scorers could return next year since there were 2 juniors, 2 sophomores and 1 freshman. Coach Walt Drenth and his assistant coach Kim McGreevy are continuing to build depth on the team, and are also assisted by Michigan State's most recent star runner, Nicole Bush, who barely missed making the 2008 U. S. Olympic team as a steeplechase runner. Bush finished 5th as a senior in her last NCAA National Championship Meet, and won the Big Ten meet individual title prior to that. Michigan State's team clearly misses the talent and leadership that Nicole Bush provided. While time and hard work will improve individual performances of the curent team members, there is no real substitute for pure talent. Speed is a killer in any sport, especailly football but also true in cross-country running.
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