Little Tens | msurunclub

This past weekend saw the Michigan State Running Club take second and third at the inaugural Little Tens Conference Championship, hosted by MRun. The course at Willow Metropark in New Boston, Michigan was very flat with a steep toboggan hill that runners had to ascend twice. Despite humid conditions, uneven footing in parts of the course, and an accelerated race schedule, several Spartans were able to set personal bests and club top ten performances, not to mention finishes which contributed to the two shiny chalices which we brought home to East Lansing.

A thick, ominous cloud hung over the course when the women’s race started. Alex Dutcher took the lead from the start and was shadowed by MRun’s Lauren Kettle. In the last mile of the race, Kettle and an Ohio State runner passed Alex, though she still finished in a new club 6k record of 22:57. Charging in four seconds later, having run a very different race, was Steph Schmidt, clocking in at 23:01, the next fastest time on the record list. Great teamwork was showcased by Valerie Morel and Kathryn Dugal, who kicked in to finish 12th and 14th. Christina Casali stepped up and had a clutch performance as the important fifth runner. An on-the-mend Tarah Thompson and Karalyn Kiessling rounded out the top seven in 23rd and 28th. Emma Winn and Megan McNitt had solid races, running 27:33 and 28:22. Elena Mikelonis set a minute and half personal best in 30:49, while Susie Prince toughed it out to finish in 33:26 for her first 6k.

Spartans are 2nd and 3rd in Conference

Look to improve at Regionals

Little Tens Invitational

Saturday October 12th, 2013

Take a look at the top five’s times below. You’re already on the best team in club history. If you throw in a healthy Margaret Levasseur and Tarah at 100%, this team is in the hunt for a regional title. Our close second place finishes to No. 4 MRun (22-31 at Fall Classic, 32-52 at Little Tens) have earned us a seventh place national ranking.

Dutcher – 22:57, 1st on club record list

Schmidt – 23:01, 47 second PR, 2nd on club record list

Morel – 24:56, 41 second PR, 6th on club record list

Dugal – 24:57, 1:31 PR, 7th on club record list

Casali – 25:49, 1:22 PR, 12th on club record list

The men did not fare as well as the women, though there were still some great times posted by many. Adam Terwillegar and Bennett Prud’homme took the pace out hard, gapping the field by five seconds at the mile. Though this initially worked, MRun made a strong charge over the second half of the race to take first, third, and fifth. Despite this, their times are good enough for second and fourth on the club record list, not to mention Adam’s thirty second personal best.

Kevin Glime ran a very evenly split race to set a PR of 27:27, now eighth on the record list. Mark Choate ran 30:11 in his first race of the year with Fouad Abdole not far back in a PR of 30:17. Freshmen Lucas Bowman and Jonathan Sollish ran 32:37 and 32:46 in their first club 8k. At the end of the day, the Spartans managed to finish third behind MRun and Purdue without our third, fifth, sixth, and seventh runners. When we run a full squad at Regionals next week, I don’t see how we can’t contend for a regional title with No. 5 MRun and No. 4 Indiana, last year’s Great Lakes Regional champion and national runner-up at Hershey. NIRCA claims we are a team to watch; I would rather head into next week and Nationals as a dark horse, making the great performances that are sure to come that much sweeter.

Don’t miss out on Regionals, sign up today. Go Green.

- Colin Riley, 10/16/13

Alex Dutcher, Stephanie Schmidt, Valerie Morel, and Kathryn Dugal receive All-Conference honors at the Little Tens Conference Championships.