MADISON, Wis. – On Friday, Nov. 10, for the third and final time of the season, the Michigan State cross country team traveled to Madison to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet.

The No. 14 ranked women’s team ran first, competing in a 6k race where they fell short of automatic qualification, placing third and earning 82 points. MSU fell 11 points behind second place No. 23 Wisconsin and first place No. 9 Notre Dame.

Once again, the Spartans were led by the duo of Katie Osika and Mekenna Veen, running 20:16.1 and 20:17.0 to place third and fourth respectively. Lauren Freeland ran a 20:42.0 to claim a 10th place finish. Emily Bardwell finished 22nd with a time of 21:00.5. Grace Molloy was the final scorer, running a 21:24.1 to earn a 43rd place finish. The displacers Eleanor Kendall and Sarah Forsyth placed 45th and 57th respectively.

Katie Osika, Makenna Veen, Lauren Freeland and Emily Bardwell earned NCAA Great Lakes All-Region Honors after Friday’s performance. 

The men’s team competed in the 10k race and placed fourth with 127 points, falling behind four ranked teams. Placing first was No. 12 Butler, followed by No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 25 Michigan and No. 17 Notre Dame.

Andrew Nolan ran a 29:59.5 10k to place 11th out of 209 runners. Josh Smith and Owen Huard ran times of 30:13.4 and 30:18.4 to place 21st and 23rd respectively. Followed by Alexander Penski, achieving a 29th place finish with a time of 20:25.7. Aden Smith was the last runner to score, running a 30:43.6 to earn 43rd place. Displacers Andrew Lane and Parkers Lambers placed 54th and 81st.

Three Spartans on the men’s side achieved NCAA Great Lakes All-Region Honors, which was Andrew Nolan, Josh Smith and Owen Huard.

Hope is still alive for MSU to race in the NCAA Championship. The Spartans have a chance to be selected alongside 12 other teams across all regions to join the 18 automatic qualifiers. The NCAA Championship will take place on Nov. 18 in Charlottesville, Virginia.