Lansing Sun

EAST LANSING, Mich. - In its first meet of the season, the Michigan State women's and men's cross country teams delivered strong performances at the Jeff Drenth Memorial in Shepherd, Michigan, hosted by Central Michigan.

"I really appreciate our effort today in the start to our season. There's a great chance of growth for these men and women. Their effort was on task, and I'm proud of their behavior through managing this week as well as today," said MSU Director of Cross Country and Track & Field.

The Jeff Drenth Memorial is named after the late Jeff Drenth, brother to MSU's former Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Walt Drenth. Jeff, who passed away while training in 1986, is a member of the Central Michigan University Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame.

On the women's side, the Spartans finished third behind Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan with a total of 73 points. Fatima Giron was MSU's top finisher, placing third with a time of 18:13.6 in the 5k race. Running unattached, freshman Madison Osterberg was third with a time of 17:54.2. Fellow freshman Ella Christensen also ran unattached, ending 11th with a time of 18:30.0. The next scoring Spartan was Natalie Miller with a time of 18:50.5.

The Michigan State men also finished third behind Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan with 62 points. The Spartans secured the top two spots with Kyle Eberhard finishing first with a time of 14:58.8 in the 5k race. Michael Hegarty was second just behind Eberhard, running a 14:54.9. Four Spartan freshmen finished 6-9 running unattached to show the depth of the Spartan squad. Thomas Westphal was the top unattached freshman, ending in sixth with a time of 15:04.9.

Following the Jeff Drenth Memorial, Michigan State will host the Spartan Invitational, sponsored by Auto-Owners Invitational on Sept. 13.