“It was really exciting to come in [to the home meet] and have some big expectations and perform well,” McDonald said post-race at the Spartan Invitational. McDonald finished fourth for the Spartans and eighth overall with a time of 21:47.

The top two finishers of the women’s race were MSU juniors Rachele Schulist—first; 21:01—and Alexis Wiersma—second; 21:07. Junior Shelby Jackson rounded out the top five with a time of 21:36.

“It was a really good starting point to see where we’re all at," Schulist said. "It was just good to have everyone out there today, working together, to see what we can do.”

For the men, coming off their performance in Mount Pleasant, the leader of the Spartans was junior Clark Ruiz with a third place finish and a time of 25:03. Sophomore Max Benoit also finished in the top ten, securing eighth place with a time of 25:13.

“As a team we performed really well, we found each other really early in the race," Ruiz said. "We definitely didn’t take the lead early like we wanted to, but we were patient and I feel we did really well about that."

MSU head cross country coach Walt Drenth was also pleased with both the men's and women's success.

“I thought we were outstanding…I thought our approach was really good for both genders,” Drenth said. “I thought that our young people handled themselves very well in the different collegiate environment. Some redshirt people that weren’t in uniform also did amazing.”

And when asked about returning this season after winning the women’s national title last year, Drenth said the team still strives for similar goals.

“Our goal is the same as it was last year, and that’s just to see how good we can be late," Drenth said. "I don’t think, fundamentally, we’ve changed our approach at any point.”

The Spartans have their next race Sept. 25 at the Glen Oaks Cross Country Invitational in Centreville, MI, while other members of the team will head to the Griak Invitational the next day in Falcon Heights, MN.