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One Hundred Ten Years Running on the Banks of the Red Cedar

A Social History of Michigan State University Cross Country

Outstanding Athletes

This page highlights, with photos and brief descriptions, several dozen historically significant athletes from among many possibilities. At the bottom of this page a list of “first team” athletes from various major competitions over the years. It’s far from a comprehensive list, but serves to illustrate one important measure of excellence. The book set provides their stories as well as those of more than 1,800 additional athletes, plus coaches, team managers, athletic trainers and other people who made MSU’s the most historically influential and one of the most successful intercollegiate cross country programs dating from 1907 well into the 21st century.

These lists feature many of MSU’s all-time championship season performers.

Inclusion criteria: First team (top 7) in State Intercollegiate (SIC), Central Collegiate (CCC), Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A), Big Ten (B1G), AIAW or NCAA Districts/Regionals (GLR), plus the census of AIAW and NCAA All-Americans (NCAA). Athletes prior to 1915 had no opportunity to participate in any of the listed major cross country meets, but two who won Big Ten track titles as invited non-members are listed here under the designation B1G*.

Men (1907-2023):

Fred Adolph Sr. SIC
Frank Allen SIC
Kyle Baker B1G, NCAA
George Balthrop B1G
Ron Barr B1G, NCAA
Morgan Beadlescomb B1G, GLR, NCAA
Walt Beardslee SIC
Ed Bechtold SIC, CCC, IC4A
Terry Block B1G, NCAA
Gerard Boss SIC, CCC
Jan Bowen IC4A, B1G
Tony Brendel SIC
Lauren Brown SIC, CCC, IC4A
Harry Butler SIC, IC4A
Ralph Carr B1G*
Don Castle B1G
Clark Chamberlain CCC, IC4A
Meredith Clark SIC
John Cook B1G
Gay Denslow IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Jack Dianetti IC4A, NCAA
Leonard Dowd SIC
Warren Druetzler IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Bob Elliott CCC
Willard Fager SIC
Roy Fehr SIC, IC4A, NCAA
Dick Frey SIC, CCC, IC4A, NCAA
Lyle Garbe IC4A, NCAA
John Gardner SIC, CCC, IC4A
Louis Geierman SIC
Fletcher Gibson SIC
Ed Graydon B1G
Art Green SIC
Patrick Grosskopf GLR
Anthony Hamm B1G, GLR, NCAA
John Hammer SIC, CCC
Sherod Hardt B1G, GLR, NCAA
Kim Hartman B1G
Frank Haven SIC
Walt Hertzler CCC
Bob Hills SIC, CCC
Pat Hoard GLR
Maurice Horski SIC
Roger Humbarger B1G
Selwyn Jones IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Jim Jurcevich GLR, NCAA
Walt Kalmbach NCAA
Mike Kaines B1G
Forddy Kennedy IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Henry Kennedy B1G, IC4A, NCAA
Jim Kepford IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Randy Kilpatrick B1G, GLR
Justine Kiprotich B1G
Bob Lake IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Alvin LaPlante CCC
Joe Leo GLR
Ken Leonowicz B1G, NCAA
Chris Lett GLR
Herb Lindsay B1G, GLR, NCAA
Ed Longnecker SIC
Bill Mack IC4A, NCAA
Walt Mack SIC, NCAA
Don Makielski NCAA
Al Mangan SIC
Bill Mansfield SIC
Paul McCollam B1G
Roger Merchant B1G
Ed Mills SIC, NCAA
Ralph Monroe SIC
Roy Niemeyer SIC
Andrew Nolan B1G
Bob O’Connor SIC, CCC
Tom Ottey SIC, CCC, IC4A
Steve Padgett B1G
Jerry Page SIC
Otto Pongrace SIC, CCC
Ken Popejoy B1G, NCAA
Bob Price NCAA
Jeff Pullen B1G
Billy Reynolds IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Caleb Rhynard B1G, GLR, NCAA
Clarence Ripper SIC
Floyd Roberts SIC
Elmer Roossien CCC
Clark Ruiz B1G
Steve Schell B1G
Martin Schulist B1G, GLR
Bill Scott SIC, NCAA
Wayne Scutt B1G, NCAA
Roy Severance CCC
Dick Sharkey IC4A, B1G, NCAA
Earl Sheldon SIC
Dave Smith B1G
Ian Smith B1G
Harold Sparks SIC
CarLee Stimpfel B1G
Ryan Taylor B1G, GLR
Colby Thompson SIC
Lloyd Thurston SIC
Fred Tillotson B1G*
James Uhlenberg B1G
Ken Waite SIC, CCC, IC4A
John Walter B1G, NCAA
Morgan Ward B1G, NCAA
Ron Wheeler B1G, NCAA
Ted Willmarth CCC
Walt Wisner CCC
Jim Wright SIC, CCC
Henry Wylie CCC
Jerry Young IC4A, B1G, NCAA

Women (1974-2023):

Misty Allison B1G, GLR, NCAA
Lisa Berry B1G, AIAW
Nicole Bush B1G, GLR, NCAA
Diane Bussa GLR
Karen Campbell B1G, GLR, NCAA
Michelle Carson B1G, GLR, NCAA
Lindsay Clark B1G, GLR, NCAA
Diane Culp B1G
Danette Doetzel B1G, GLR, NCAA
Stephanie Dueringer B1G, GLR, NCAA
Cindy Durocher B1G
Maggie Farrell B1G
Annie Fuller B1G, GLR, NCAA
Lynsie Gram GLR, NCAA
Carlie Green B1G, GLR
Nathalie Hughes B1G
India Johnson B1G, NCAA
Katie Kelly GLR
Sara Kroll B1G, GLR
Jamie Krzyminski B1G, GLR
Katie Landwehr B1G
Emily MacLeod B1G, GLR
Jenna Magness B1G, GLR, NCAA
Erin McDonald B1G
Alissa McKaig B1G, GLR, NCAA
Leah O’Connor B1G, GLR, NCAA
Katie Osika B1G, GLR, NCAA
Julia Otwell B1G, GLR, NCAA
Anne Pewe B1G, GLR, AIAW, NCAA
Jeralyn Poe GLR, NCAA
Michelle Rafferty GLR, NCAA
Kay Richards B1G
Rachel Schulist B1G, GLR, NCAA
Lisa Senakiewich B1G, GLR, NCAA
Mary Shea GLR, NCAA
Ann Somerville B1G, GLR, NCAA
Kelly Spatz B1G, AIAW
Makenna Veen B1G
Cynthia Wadsworth B1G, AIAW
Lillian Warnes B1G, AIAW
Jill Washburn B1G, GLR, NCAA
Alexis Wiersma B1G, GLR, NCAA

Book Set Contents

A central thesis of this five-volume book set is that Michigan State was integral in establishing and shaping intercollegiate cross country competitions in the United States. Michigan State played the dominant role in nationalizing men’s intercollegiate cross country and a key role in establishing women’s cross country. This book endeavors to tell the story of every race comprising Michigan State University’s long and proud cross country history. In addition to focusing on great teams, athletes and coaches, the goal is to produce a history filled with human interest stories and some sense of the role that running played prior to athletes’ college careers, during their time at MSU and (for most) after they left campus. The book set includes 20 history-focused chapters and 18 social science-focused interludes. Distinctions between the history-focused and social science components are permeable.
The book set contains race-by-race accounts dating from 1907 through 2021. Because sport does not occur in a vacuum, these stories are infused with notes of broader historic and social interest. Often that broader coverage is included to provide context for the lived experiences of athletes and coaches, but a number of intersections and interactions are explored wherein team members play important roles in challenging societal norms related to race, gender, physical activity participation over the lifespan; as well as through the Great Depression, in wartime (20 MSU cross country alums died in wars spanning WWI through Korea), and other major nationally significant events including the aftermath of JFK’s assassination and the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal. Because cross country is, more than any other intercollegiate sport, set within natural and built outdoor environments, place attachment also emerged as a dominant theme. In fact, for its first 50 years, Michigan State’s courses traversed the built portion of campus. With respect to experiential aspects of distance running, over a third of the book set is focused on social science rather than history per se, and hundreds of voices are heard via survey and interview responses. While generally a “happy” story, these volumes do not shy away from confronting controversial topics. As a result of the just-described breadth and depth of coverage, it is longer than most books on this topic.