| Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley | | | | this year's showing, and increased experience and |
| Senior Nicole Bush put the finishing touch on an | | | | maturity can close the gap to an individual national |
| outstanding cross-country season by finishing 5th | | | | championship considerably. |
| in the NCAA National Championship meet, earning | | | | Clearly, Nicole Bush must now be considered |
| All-American status with a 6000-meter time of | | | | among the emerging elite middle distance runners |
| 20:13.4, missing the school-record for the meet by | | | | nationally, and a prospect for the 2012 Olympic |
| a scant 3-10ths of a second. The 6K is roughly | | | | Games in London. |
| 3.84 miles and Bush's mile pace was roughly 5:16. | | | | For the record, Stanford won the 2007 NCAA |
| Her 5th place individual finish led the Michigan State | | | | women's title followed by Oregon, Florida State |
| women to a 5th place team finish, the second | | | | and Arizona State. With their 5th place finish, |
| best showing ever for the Spartans, topped only | | | | Michigan State's women left Big Ten champion |
| by the 4th place finish in 1981 at the first-ever | | | | Minnesota (12th) and Great Lakes Regional |
| NCAA women's championships. | | | | runner-up Michigan (21st) in the dust. |
| The improvement by Bush from last year to this | | | | The Spartan men's team, which finished 17th at |
| year's All-American run was dramatic. She finished | | | | last year's NCAA Championships, did not quality |
| 3rd among the Spartan runners last year in 78th | | | | for this year's final run. Their season ended with |
| place with a time of 22:09, only 4 seconds shy of | | | | the Great Lakes Regional Championships and a |
| a full two minutes slower. | | | | 6th place finish behind Michigan and Wisconsin |
| Bush was followed by junior Alissa McKaig (50th in | | | | (which tied for 1st), Notre Dame, Indiana and Ohio |
| 21:22), junior Sarah Price (82nd in 21:37), senior | | | | State. Sophomore Max Goldak led Michigan State |
| Lisa Senakiewich (90th in 21:44) and sophomore | | | | with a 23rd place finish. |
| Emily MacLeod (94th in 21:45). Not scoring this | | | | The Spartan men ran well as a pack (about a 64 |
| year were two more sophomores-Becky | | | | second spread between the 1st and 5th runners) |
| McCormack (115th in 21:54) and Ashley Casavant | | | | but not fast enough to push their way to NCAA |
| (199th in 23:12). | | | | qualification. |
| It is important to note that the difference | | | | The Spartan women refused to run behind by |
| between the finish of McKaig and Price amounted | | | | successfully defending their Great Lakes Regional |
| to 32 places but only 15 seconds. Missing from the | | | | title, besting Michigan by 3 points led by Nicole |
| race was the Spartans' strong 5th runner, senior | | | | Bush's runner-up finish. All five Spartan scorers |
| Katie Kelly, who was out with a back injury. Had | | | | were among the top 25 finishes, a precursor to |
| Kelly been available, the Spartans could have done | | | | their outstanding NCAA performance. |
| even better. | | | | For the record, Michigan State's women were 2nd |
| Things are getting better and better for Michigan | | | | at the 2007 Big Ten Conference finals, barely |
| State's running fortunes, especially when you | | | | nipped by Minnesota by a single point. This kind of |
| know all of the women team members will be | | | | finish underscores the importance of all 7 runners |
| returning next year. | | | | on the team, not just the first 5 finishers who |
| Anita Arndt-Molis continues to impress as Michigan | | | | figure in the team scoring. When a team's 6th and |
| State's Associate Head Coach in charge of all | | | | 7th place runners finish ahead of another team's |
| middle distance and distance runners. Last year | | | | 5th scorer, the impact is more than significant. |
| the Spartan women were 12th in the NCAA | | | | The men placed well out of the money at the Big |
| Championship run. | | | | Ten finals, finishing 7th. They run well in a pack |
| Can the Spartan women improve even more? | | | | but either the entire pack has to get faster or |
| You decide with just the knowledge of these | | | | someone needs to separate from the pack and |
| three facts: | | | | become the leader, pulling the others along faster. |
| 1) Last year Alissa McKaig finished 9th overall in | | | | The speed of the group benefits from the speed |
| 21:07; this year was not her day as she was 50th | | | | of the leader. |
| in 21:22. | | | | The Wisconsin Badgers won the men's 2007 Big |
| 2) Sarah Price was 137th last year and 82nd this | | | | Ten title for the 9th consecutive year by placing |
| year. | | | | their first 5 finishers among the top 15. You read |
| 3) Nicole Bush was only 3 seconds behind the | | | | it right, 9 consecutive titles; Wisconsin did it by |
| eventual winner-Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech-at | | | | recruiting winners. They have created a winning |
| the 2K mark, only 20 seconds behind her at the | | | | environment that attracts successful prep |
| 4K mark and 43 seconds behind her at the end. | | | | runners. Period, end of story. |
| More strength training, increased confidence from | | | | (Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of a 2-Part Article. |