COLUMBIA, MO. – Michigan State‘s men’s and women’s cross country teams are headed to the NCAA Championships, the NCAA announced Saturday. The Spartan men received an at-large bid, while Rachel Forsyth qualified as an individual competitor on the women’s side. The championships will be held November 22 at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.
The MSU men will compete in a 10K race at 11:10 a.m. ET, and Forsyth will run a 6K race at 10:20 a.m. ET. This marks the men’s team’s first appearance as 2021, though Riley Hough competed individually last year, finishing 80th with a time of 29:47.2.
The Spartans are coming off a fourth-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional on Friday, matching their 2023 result with a score of 103 points. Hough led the team, finishing 10th in the 10K with a time of 29:58.11, while freshman Thomas Westphal was 12th (30:06.0). Jack Pennewell finished 22nd with a time of 30:28.3. Hough, Westphal, and Pennewell all earned All-Region honors, with Hough and Pennewell repeating the accolade from the previous year.
Michigan State joins Big Ten rivals Oregon,michigan,and Wisconsin in the NCAA Championship field.
On the women’s side, All-American Rachel Forsyth secured an at-large spot after finishing third at the Great Lakes Regional with a season-best time of 19:45.2, also earning All-Region honors for the second consecutive year.
MSU is familiar with the Gans creek course, having competed at the Gans Creek Classic on September 26, where the men finished 10th.
