.png)
TSR's 2023 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Women): #13 Michigan State Spartans
- Scotty Loughlin
- Aug 21, 2023
- 8 min read
Written by Scotty Loughlin, additional commentary and edits by Garrett Zatlin
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On rare occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
Initially, this ranking may seem high for the Michigan State women whose scoring identity seems largely consolidated to low-stick standout, Katie Osika. Fortunately for the Spartans, cross country success isn’t dictated merely by star power alone, but also by depth, experience and the ability to peak in the postseason.
That’s what makes this team dangerous on paper heading into the fall of 2023. They bring back their entire top-seven from a year ago while adding valuable scoring pieces through the transfer portal and their recruiting effort.
The women from East Lansing, Michigan are poised to remain one of the top contenders of the formidable BIG 10 Conference in 2023 -- and that shouldn’t change anytime soon even with the looming conference realignment.
* * *
After a small meet in which they did not field their varsity lineup, last year’s iteration of the Spartans' cross country team kicked-off their season on their home course at the Spartan Invitational. Admittedly, that meet didn’t feature the most fearsome of competition, but a team win over Grand Valley State, a squad that would go on to finish runner-up at the D2 NCAA XC Championships, was a welcomed result.
The Griak Invitational, however, was the venue where the Michigan State women truly exploded out of the blocks and revealed their full potential.
In a heated field featuring a handful of top teams that would go on to qualify for the national meet, the Spartans finished 3rd behind Utah and California Baptist, taking down Colorado State, Wisconsin and Ohio State in the process.
The biggest highlight of this race for the Spartans was Katie Osika’s 6th place finish, establishing herself as a legitimate low-stick among top-notch talent. And from a team perspective, Michigan State benefitted just as much from the emergence of their second and third scorers, Makenna Veen and Kaitlyn Hynes, who finished 14th and 19th, respectively.
The final feather in the Spartans' caps from this meet was how their backend was able to limit excessive scoring as Grace Molloy and Lauren Freeland crossed the line in 31st and 32nd place, respectively.
With Freeland’s finish, the Michigan State women had the least amount of points from any team’s fifth runner in the field.
However, as we know in the world of cross country, the path to the national stage is not always a linear journey. There are bumps and spin-outs along the way.
As the saying goes, "The road to success is always under construction."
And unfortunately for this BIG 10 program, that reality was on display for the Spartans at the Nuttycombe Invite where they finished a modest 18th place.
No, that result wasn't necessarily shocking, but after taking into account which teams the Spartans took down at the Griak Invitational, it was a slide in the wrong direction to see Wisconsin and Colorado State get the better of them in a larger, stronger field.
Even so, there were still bright spots at Nuttycombe as Osika shined once again with a 37th place performance. That was a result that put her on the radar of becoming a potential All-American. Makenna Veen also produced a very serviceable 96th place finish as well.
But with the final three scorers in this lineup going 116-131-153 in the overall results, the Spartans simply didn't have enough backend support to truly contend with the better teams in the field. Again, it wasn't an awful showing, but there was clearly room for improvement.
Exiting the regular season, the Michigan State women set their sights on the BIG 10 XC Championships and had their best performance of the fall months. The Spartans were able to get revenge against the Wisconsin women and taking down in-state rival Michigan on the Wolverines’ home course.
Osika contended for the win through much of the race and was able to finish runner-up to Addie Engel. Meanwhile, Veen clinched a top-10 finish while the remaining Spartan scoring trio of Hynes, Freeland and Emily Bardwell recorded a finishing spread of 15-24-28.
Following their conference title, the pendulum swung slightly in the other direction as Ohio State and Michigan were able to get the better of the Michigan State women at the Great Lakes XC Championships. However, the Spartans were able to do enough to punch their ticket to the NCAA XC Championships thanks to a 4th place team finish led by Osika who finished 3rd individually.
Closing out their season, the Spartans were able to finish 20th at the NCAA XC Championships which was about on par with expectations given up-and-down nature of their fall campaign.
Osika finished her breakout season with an All-American finish (33rd) while Veen (115th) and Hynes (125th) performed admirably enough to limit excessive scoring. But with no one else in the top-160, it was easy to see why the Spartans couldn't finish higher than they did.
On the Spartans' best day, perhaps they could have finished three or four spots better at the national meet. However, their strength throughout the entire season was their consistency from their top-three supported by the depth behind them.
So what is their outlook for this coming season?
* * *
Eligibility has been as kind as possible to the Spartans going into these fall months as they bring back their entire top-seven that toed the line at last year’s national meet.
Katie Osika is back as the team’s trusty low-stick, now bolstering new personal bests of 16:04 (5k), 4:15 (1500) and 9:32 (3k). She was incredibly reliable throughout last fall, never having a poor race and always offering lead scoring value.
Not only that, but there are also going to be opportunities where, with a good enough race, Osika can chop off another 10 to 15 points from her team's scoring. That won't be as necessary as replicating her consistency from 2022, but there are a lot of good things about Osika beyond the fact that she's fast.
We then come to the duo of Makenna Veen and Kaitlyn Hynes. If one of those two women can take a step up in their fitness, then that will be a tremendous spark for this Michigan State program. And based on recent results -- that could very easily happen.
Both athletes improved upon their personal bests over 5000 meters this past year with Hynes running 16:20 in an MSU singlet and Veen running 16:22, unattached. But there is still so much untapped potential for both of these runners. They typically offer great scoring stability, but their ongoing progression suggests that they can be even more potent this fall compared to last year as long as they maintain that trend.
In our eyes, they could be just as good as the second and third scorers of Daniella Santos and Andrea Kuhn who we highlighted in yesterday's feature about Ohio State.
However, one of the most crucial x-factors returning for the Spartans is Katelyn Stewart-Barnett. Not only does Stewart-Barnett already have national meet experience from last season, but she was able to break the 10:00 barrier in the steeplechase this past spring with a 9:56 mark -- and that's a time which requires nationally competitive fitness to run.
If Stewart-Barnett can translate her track fitness to the grass and become a mainstay in Michigan State's scoring lineup, then this already-deep Spartans' lineup will begin to address their seemingly limited firepower issue.
And how about Lauren Freeland? She has improved in the middle distances with new PRs of 2:07 (800) and 4:14 (1500) from this past spring after occasionally offering nice backend value for her team during the fall months.
Meanwhile, Emily Bardwell and Grace Molloy have shown promise with 5k performances of 16:30 and 16:31, respectively.
Another exciting returner, who will also be a newcomer on the grass, is redshirt freshman Meghan Beute. She ran 16:58 (5k) unattached for the Spartans last spring and is expected to take a leap this season after putting together a strong high school career.
* * *
As if the improvements from the above aforementioned women weren’t enough, Coach Lisa Breznau has added more talent to this year's roster including one athlete who very well could become an immediate impact piece for the Spartans.
That particular runner is Taylor Ewert who will be venturing north from Fayetteville, Arkansas as a traditional transfer. Ewert was a highly-touted distance prospect at the prep level, finishing runner-up at the NXN Championships and also 6th at the Foot Locker XC National Championships during her senior year of high school.
Initially, Ewert wasted no time acclimating to NCAA competition during the abbreviated fall 2020 season. The then-freshman finished 4th at the Gans Creek Classic over Isabel Van Camp, Kennedy Thomson and Logan Jolly (née Morris) while later placing 10th at the SEC XC Championships.
Ewert then followed up her early success with personal bests of 9:26 (3k) and 4:43 (mile).
However, since the winter of 2021, we haven’t seen Ewert at the same level. Her performances have been a little all over the place and she has had a few absences from racing. But with two full years of eligibility left, the Spartans will be hopeful that she can refine her fitness and maximize her potential in a green and white singlet.
Joining Ewert as a potential high-impact newcomer is true freshman Allison Cornell of Forest Hills Northern High School. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native finished 4th at the 2022 MHSAA LP D1 XC Championships and could be a development piece that shines in the future for the Michigan State women.
It should also be noted that Natalie Kessler will be joining the Spartans this fall as a true freshman. Her brother, Hobbs, broke the boys' high school outdoor 1500 meter and indoor mile records during his time at Skyline High School. And now, Natalie will be entering as a product of the same program (albeit, not under the tutelage of Coach Ron Warhurst).
* * *
Michigan State may not have the absolute highest ceiling in the nation, but they certainly have more upside than most cross country teams given the amount of scorers they bring back (literally all of them).
They're also introducing high-upside depth to their program that will operate as insurance for any meets where their fourth or fifth runners have an “off” day.
The added potential of Taylor Ewert will bring hopes of greater firepower up front. If she can run at her best, then there’s no reason to think Ewert couldn’t be a legitimate side-kick to Katie Osika.
And while that scenario admittedly involves some favorable speculation, Ewert only brings upside and essentially zero downside.
It doesn’t feel like the Spartans’ ceiling is incredibly high going into these fall months, but there are also a ton of avenues as to how this team could have success in 2023.
Osika is a true low-stick, Veen and Hynes look like they could be even better this fall compared to last year, Stewart-Barnett just had an outdoor track season which signals greater success on the grass and Ewert could be a massive boost if everything clicks for her.
And when you factor in the ongoing rise of Freeland, the sneaky-good stability of Molloy and the occasional scoring success of Bardwell, the lineup options for this team feel endless.
The Michigan State women could contend for a higher spot in our rankings later in the year, perhaps in the top-10 range. But for now, this veteran squad appears poised to make a strong case for a BIG 10 title defense as well as an upper-half finish in the standings of the NCAA XC Championships.
