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NCAA Cross-Country - Michigan State's Nicole Bush Wins the 2008 Great Lakes Regional Championship

By Ed Bagley

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 22Dec2008 Word count: 636 Viewed: 312 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Michigan State brought the best runner to the 2008 Great Lakes Regional, but Michigan brought the best team and took home the trophy, winning the meet with 72 points to Wisconsin's 80 and Michigan State's 83 for 3rd place.

Senior Nicole Bush beat 227 runners to claim the individual title in 20:48.5 over the 6,000-meter (3.72 mile) course at Purdue University in Lafayette (IN), winning easily over senior runner-up Nicole Edwards of Michigan (her namesake) by 9 seconds.

Bush won the Big Ten Championship individual title prior to the Great Lakes Regional. She is among the emerging top middle distance runners in America and a candidate for the 2012 U. S. Olympic team.

Following Bush for Michigan State were senior Lisa Senakiewich at 6th place in 21:21.0, sophomore Emily Langenberg at 15th in 21:42.4, sophomore Carlie Green at 26th in 22:00.7, junior Emily MacLeod at 35th in 22:07.5, senior Sarah Price at 38th in 22:15.9 and junior Becky McCormack at 71st in 22:48.6.

The Spartan scorers were 1-6-15-26-35 for an average time of 21:26.02 with a spread between their first and last scorer of 79 seconds.

Following runner-up Edwards for Michigan were Jennifer Morgan (11th), Danielle Tauro (16th), Geena Gall (21st) and Kelly Sampson (22nd). The Wolverines were 2-11-16-21-22 for an average time of 21:34.24 with a spread of 60 seconds.

Notice the importance of spread between runners. Michigan State's 5 runners had a spread of 79 seconds to Michigan's 60 seconds.

So how could have Michigan State beaten Michigan? Glad you asked. Here is one way: Michigan State's 5th scorer—Emily MacLeod, who finished 35th in 22:07.5—runs the 3.72-mile course exactly 14 seconds faster, finishing 22nd in 21:53.5, ahead of Kelly Sampson of Michigan (the Wolverines' 5th scorer), whose 21:54.3 now places her in 23th place rather than 22nd, and moves Carlie Green of Michigan State from 26th to 27th place.

Now Michigan State's 5 scorers finish 1-6-15-22-27 which equals 72 points and a Great Lakes Regional title for the Spartans. Michigan now finishes 2nd with a 2-11-16-21-23 finish for 73 points.

What could cause a 5th place finisher on a team to think that she is less important than her teammate who wins the race? Nicole Bush cannot win the team title for Michigan State, Emily MacLeod can.

This is not to single out junior Emily MacLeod or any other Michigan State runner other than Nicole Bush. It is to point out the importance of all runners on a team. Had senior Sarah Price run 22 seconds faster she would have finished 22nd in 21:53.9 and accomplished the same result, a Great Lakes Regional title.

Wisconsin's women made their presence known by running 3-9-17-19-32 to finish as the runner-up. Interestingly enough, Wisconsin's average time was 21:38.38—more than either Michigan or Michigan State—but their spread was 63 seconds, 16 seconds faster than Michigan State.

The Michigan State men were 6th in their race with a 26-29-35-38-50 finish led by junior Patrick Grosskopf's 26th place finish in 32:06.5. Following Grosskopf was Spencer Beatty, Adam Sprangel, Joseph Dimambro and Dustin Voss.

Patrick Smyth of Notre Dame won the 10,000-meter (6.2 mile) run in 31:06.4. He and his Fighting Irish teammates were 3rd overall.

Wisconsin's men won the team title with 39 points, running 4-5-6-7-17, and Michigan was runner-up with 62 points, running 8-9-10-11-24. Both were examples of some great team running that produced excellent results among the 28 competing teams.

Next up is the NCAA National Championship Meet on Nov. 24 hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

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