EAST LANSING, Mich. – After placing fourth at the Big Ten Championships, Michigan State's Rachel Forsyth was named the Big Ten Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year, the conference office announced Thursday.
The Big Ten Conference also announced that MSU senior Taylor Ewert and sophomore Parker Lambers were the Spartan women's and men's recipients of the B1G Sportsmanship Awards, respectively.
Finishing fourth in the Big Ten Championship, Forsyth also garnered first-team All-Big Ten honors. Her time of 19:26.2 was a Michigan State Big Ten Championship record, just besting All-American Leah O'Connor who won the 2014 title with a time of 19:26.3. At the Big Ten Championship, Forsyth improved upon her 6k time of 20:16.0 set at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals on Oct. 19.
The Ann Arbor native becomes 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.
Ewert, a senior from Beavercreek, Ohio, had the fourth-best finish for the MSU women at the conference championships. The Arkansas transfer set an MSU personal-best time of 20:15.8 to finish 48th. She has been a solid performer all season for the MSU women competing in both the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals (20:39.5 - 6k) and the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (17:04.4 - 5k).
Lambers has had a breakout season for the Spartans. A native of Holland, Michigan, Lambers scored in the Big Ten Championships with a time of 23:32.3 in the 8k race. Earlier this season, he set a personal best at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational with a time of 23:20.0.
Michigan State continues postseason action on Friday, Nov. 15 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals in Norton, Ohio.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
