Spartans finish 11th, Bush seventh

The MSU women’s cross country team finished 11th out of 31 teams at the NCAA Championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

Senior Nicole Bush, MSU’s most decorated runner, placed seventh with a time of 20 minutes, 8 seconds.

Bush’s time, which was an NCAA Championships record for an MSU runner in the 6,000-meter race, was five seconds better than the 2007 finish that netted her fifth place and All-America honors.

First-place team honors went to Washington, while Texas Tech senior Sally Kipyego secured her third straight national title with an individual time of 19:29.

The Spartans’ combined time of 1 hour, 45 minutes, 1 second from seven runners was about three minutes behind Washington’s championship time.

Monday marked MSU’s 10th straight appearance at the NCAA Championships. The Spartans have now finished in the top 15 for seven of the past 10 years.