Michigan State Spartans
The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...
have for over a century fielded
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...
teams representing
Michigan State University.
Men's teams
Cross Country, first run as an
intramural
Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
competition in 1907 and as an intercollegiate competition in 1910, has historically been Michigan State's most successful men's sport; especially during a four-decade period spanning roughly 1930-1970 during which the Spartans won eight
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
championships and numerous
IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...
and
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
titles. Having outgrown the
MIAA, then
Michigan Agricultural College
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
initially ran cross country as an independent.
Between WWI and WWII,
Michigan State College
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
competed in the
Central Collegiate Conference, winning titles in 1926-1929, 1932, 1933, and 1935. Michigan State also experienced success in the IC4A, at New York's
Van Cortlandt Park
Van Cortlandt Park is a park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. The park, the city's third-lar ...
, winning 15 team titles (1933–1937, 1949, 1953, 1956–1960, 1962, 1963, and 1968). Since entering the Big Ten in 1950, Michigan State has won 14 men's team titles (1951–1953, 1955–1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1970 and 1971). Michigan State hosted the inaugural NCAA cross country championships in 1938 and every year thereafter through 1964 (there was no championship in 1943). The Spartans won NCAA championships in 1939, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1959. The following coaches led Michigan State to major titles: CCC (
Morton Mason, Lauren Brown), IC4A (Lauren Brown,
Karl Schlademan
Karl L. Schlademan (February 11, 1890 – December 22, 1980) was an American college sports coach and athletics administrator. Principally a track and field coach, Schlademan also coached football, basketball and cross country. He served as the ...
,
Fran Dittrich,
Jim Gibbard), Big Ten (Karl Schlademan, Fran Dittrich, Jim Gibbard), and NCAA (Lauren Brown, Karl Schlademan, Fran Dittrich).
[Erickson, C. (2007). 2007-2008 Michigan State Cross Country and Track and Field Media Guide. East Lansing: MSU Sports Information Office.][NCAA Website]
(Retrieved 6 July 2010). .[Frimodig, L., & Stabley, F. (1971). Spartan Saga: A History of Michigan State Athletics. East Lansing: Michigan State University.]
Men's individual champions
Individual champions include: CCC (Lauren Brown 1927, 1929;
Clark Chamberlain 1930, 1931; and
Tom Ottey 1932, 1933); IC4A (Clark Chamberlain 1930; Tom Ottey 1933, 1934;
Ed Bechtold 1935;
Ken Waite 1936; Henry Kennedy 1955, 1956; and
Crawford Kennedy 1957-1959); Big Ten (Henry Kennedy 1955, 1956; Crawford Kennedy 1959; and Gerald Young 1960). Athletes who ran cross country at Michigan State and also made Olympic rosters in various events include Tom Ottey (USA),
Warren Druetzler (USA),
Lyle Garbe (Canada), and David Lean (Australia).
In addition to champions listed previously, the following MSU athletes achieved
All-American status at the NCAA championship (those listed are unofficial prior to the award's creation in 1948, but based on the same criteria):
*
Dick Frey (1938, 1939)
*
Roy Fehr (1939)
*
Ralph Monroe (1941)
* Walter Mack (1941, 1945)
* Robert Price (1944)
*
Walter Kalmbach (1944)
*
Jack Dianetti (1946, official 1948)
* William Mack (1948, 1949)
* Warren Druetzler (1948–1950)
*
Don Makielski (1949, 1950)
*
Jim Kepford (1950, 1952)
* Wayne Scott (1951, 1952)
*
Ron Barr (1951)
* John Walter (1952)
* Lyle Garbe (1953)
*
Gaylord Denslow (1955, 1956)
*
Terry Block (1955)
* Selwyn Jones (1955, 1956)
* Henry Kennedy (1955, 1956)
*
Ron Wheeler (1956)
* Crawford Kennedy (1957–1959)
*
Robert Lake (1958)
* William Reynolds (1958–1960)
* Gerald Young (1959, 1960)
*
Richard Sharkey (1963)
*
Ken Lenowicz (1968)
*
Ken Popejoy (1970)
*
Herb Lindsay (1974, 1976)
* Anthony Hamm (1988–1991)
* Ian Smith (1991)
* Kyle Baker (1997)
Women's teams and individual champions
Women's cross country competition commenced in 1974 as a club sport and gained
varsity status in 1975. Michigan State won Big Ten championships in 1981 (coach John Goodrich), 2001 (coach
Jim Stintzi), 2010, 2011, and 2019 (coach
Walter Drenth)and finished in the top 15 at the NCAA championship nine times (1981, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2019), making this decade tops in the history of the program. Michigan State won the NCAA Championship in 2015 at Terra Haute. The MSU women have also qualified as a team for the NCAA championships for 19 straight seasons dating from 2001 through the 2019 season. Individual Big Ten champions include
Misty Allison (1991),
Michelle Carson (2002),
Danette Doetzel (2004),
Nicole Bush (2008), and
Emily MacLeod (2010).
In addition to champions listed previously, the following MSU athletes achieved All-American status at the NCAA championship:
*
Anne Pewe (1981)
*
Jill Washburn (1981)
*
Karen Campbell-Lutzke (1981)
*
Mary Shea (1988)
*Misty Allison (1991)
*
Stephanie Dueringer (1996)
*
Ann Sommerville (2000)
* Michelle Carson (2002, 2003)
* Danette Doetzel (2004)
*
Alissa McKaig (2006)
* Michelle Rafferty (2006)
* Nicole Bush (2007, 2008)
*
Lisa Senakiewich (2008)
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180542/http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/c-xc/msu-c-xc-body.html
{{Michigan State University
College cross country teams in the United States
Cross country
1907 establishments in Michigan
Sports clubs established in 1907