Michigan State Spartans 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 coun ...

teams representing

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

Men's teams

Cross Country, first run as an intramural 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 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 Thomas Charles Ottey (June 8, 1910 – April 10, 1984) was an American long-distance runner. He competed in the men's 10,000 metres at the 1932 Summer Olympics. References External links * 1910 births 1984 deaths Athletes (tr ...

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 Warren Oliver Druetzler (June 8, 1929 – September 21, 2017) was an American athlete, who competed mainly in the 1500 m. Druetzler was a finalist in the 1500 m at the 1952 Summer Olympics. College career Growing up in Illinois, he ran for ...

(USA),

Lyle Garbe Lyle may refer to: People Surname * Lyle (surname) Given name * Lyle Alzado (1949–1992), American NFL All-Pro football player * Lyle Beerbohm (born 1979), professional mixed martial arts fighter * Lyle Bennett (1903–2005), head coach of th ...

(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 Richard H. Frey (December 17, 1929 – April 25, 2020) was a former American football end who played for the Dallas Texans and Houston Oilers. He played college football at Texas A&M University, having previously attended Mark Keppel High School ...

(1938, 1939) *

Roy Fehr Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

(1939) *

Ralph Monroe Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

(1941) * Walter Mack (1941, 1945) * Robert Price (1944) *

Walter Kalmbach Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

(1944) *

Jack Dianetti Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

(1946, official 1948) * William Mack (1948, 1949) * Warren Druetzler (1948–1950) *

Don Makielski Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a v ...

(1949, 1950) *

Jim Kepford Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

(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 Robert Lake is a freshwater body of the southeastern part of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay (municipality), in Jamésie, in the administrative region of Nord-du-Québec, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. This body of water extends in the townsh ...

(1958) * William Reynolds (1958–1960) * Gerald Young (1959, 1960) * Richard Sharkey (1963) * Ken Lenowicz (1968) * Ken Popejoy (1970) *

Herb Lindsay Herb Lindsay (born November 12, 1954) is an American former long-distance runner. He competed in track, road and cross country running disciplines. He was the silver medalist in the 5000-meter run at the 1979 Pan American Games, finishing behind ...

(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