Great Lake Regional Championships
Date: Friday, Nov. 15
Time: Women's 6k Race - 11 a.m.
Men's 8k Race - 12 p.m.
All time Eastern
Location: Silver Creek Metro Park (Norton, Ohio)
EAST LANSING, MICH. - Michigan State's cross country teams will travel to Norton, Ohio for the 2024 Great Lakes Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 15, hosted by the Mid-American Conference.
The women's 6k race will begin at 11 a.m. ET, while the men's 10k race will start at 12 p.m. ET. The race will take place at Silver Creek Metro Park, which is the second oldest park district in Ohio. There is no cost for parking.
The top-2 finishers at each of the nine regional races taking place Friday will be granted a bid. Thirteen other teams will be assessed for the remaining at-large bids which will be announced in the selection show Saturday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m.
The Spartan women finished sixth in the Big Ten Championships in Champaign, Illinois on Nov. 1. Rachel 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. She was later named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
The Ann Arbor native was the first Spartan to win the award since Kaitlyn Hynes in 2021 and Maggie Farrell in 2017. She is only the sixth Michigan State woman to be named the top Big Ten rookie in program history.
In the men's 8k race, Michigan State finished fourth. 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.
Last season, the women took third place in the Great Lake Regionals, while the men were fifth. Last year was the second time in the last three years that seven Spartans between both teams claimed the All-Region honors and the 13th time in the last 15 seasons with six plus runners earned the accolade.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
