Leah O'Connor Leads No. 1 Michigan State Women To Big Ten Championship

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Led by Leah O'Connor in first-place and three other top-10 finishers, the top-ranked Michigan State women's cross country team captured their

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Led by Leah O'Connor in first-place and three other top-10 finishers, the top-ranked Michigan State women's cross country team captured their second-straight Big Ten Championship meet on Sunday. Caleb Rhynard finished fifth overall with a time of 23:47 in the men's 8K race as the No. 22-ranked Spartan men collected a fifth-place finish among 12 teams. The two races were held at the Ashton Cross Country Course in Iowa City.

"We came away very pleased with how both groups competed today," said MSU Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth. "We told everyone that we wanted to be better than we were at Wisconsin, and I thought we accomplished that today. I think we still have room for growth on both sides, which is exciting to think about as we move forward."

The Michigan State women's team recorded 26 points, the third-lowest total in Big Ten history, to earn its fourth conference championship in the last five years. O'Connor, the runner-up at last year's Big Ten Championships, added another highlight to her outstanding career at MSU with a career-best and course-record time of 19:26.30.

"Leah's really come a long way since her freshman year and that's just a credit to how hard she's worked," added Drenth. "Coming into today, we thought she and Rachele [Schulist] both had a good chance to finish at or near the top. They were both outstanding leading the way for us today."

Schulist (19:54.40) and Lindsay Clark (19:59.70) were next to cross the finish line for the Spartans in third and fourth place, respectively. Julia Otwell (20:04.10) followed in seventh place overall and Sara Kroll (20:18.90) finished 11th to round out the scorers for Michigan State. Alexis Wiersma (13th - 20:24.60), Katie Landwehr (17th - 20:37.20), Sara Stassen (19th - 20:38.10) and Melanie Brender (45th - 21:16.10) were also in the rotation for the Spartans.

The All-Big Ten team was announced following the race. O'Connor, Schulist, Clark and Otwell were first-team selections, while Kroll and Wiersma were each named to the second team.

"I can't say enough about our women and the leadership of our fifth-years and the culture they have helped develop here by demanding the best out of everyone," stated Drenth. "This has been such an awesome group. What they've accomplished to this point is truly a reflection of their work ethic and who they are as people."

Michigan State collected 117 points in the men's race, led by Rhynard in fifth place with a season-best time of 23:47.70. Rhynard was named first-team All-Big Ten for his performance for the second-straight year. Sherod Hardt finished 22nd overall with a time of 24:14.30, followed by Alex Wilson (24:16.50) and Ben Miller (24:20.90) in 27th and 31st, respectively. Ben Carruthers (24:21.90) was the final scorer for the Spartans in 32nd place. Andrew Cusmano (35th - 24:24.50), Nick Soter (24:26.60), Chris Collier (42nd - 24:32.80) and Max Benoit (63rd - 25:06.50) made up the rest of the field for MSU.

"On the men's side, I think today was probably our best team race in four or five years," said Drenth."I thought they were fully engaged out there and Caleb [Rhynard] was awesome at the front again. There were probably ten All-Americans in today's race and I thought Caleb and our other leaders performed well against some tough competition once again. Our expectations were very high for today and that's just a testament to the work our guys have put in."

The Spartans will be idle for a week before competing in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships on Nov. 14 in Madison, Wisconsin.