Anna Buist


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​Year: Sophomore
Major: Español (in English that means Spanish)
Hometown:  Hudsonville, Michigan
High School: Hudsonville High School
Favorite Event: Steeple chase, 3k, 5k
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Women's Rugby
What brought you to running club: I really love to run and needed friends.
About Anna:
1. Even though I play on the women's rugby team, I no longer actually play because I dislocated my shoulder during our first tournament and can't play again for a while.
2. Even though I transferred this year, you would never be able to tell. I have become a HUGE fan of the Spartan Dawgs and have fallen in love with Nick Ward.
3. Many people think that Taylor and I knew each other before college. While yes, we competed against each other in high school because we went to rival schools, we did not know each other and that is one of my biggest regrets.
4. I am also famous because during one of the basketball games, I made my debut by showing off my homemade jersey that Taylor and I made during the snow days.

Natalie Hauswirth







​Year: Sophomore
Major: Animal Science
College: College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Hometown:  Fenton, Michigan
High School: Hartland High School
Favorite Event: 60m Hurdles, 100m Hurdles, 4x100m relay, 4x200m relay
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Clubs-Animal Science Undergraduate Research Association, Sponsorship Chair of MSU's Horseman's Association Jobs-Downhill Ski Racing Coach at Mt. Brighton, High school hurdle/sprint coach at Hartland High school
What brought you to running club: I actually love running (yes I'm one of those people)! And thought it would be a good way to meet people
About Natalie:
​ 1) I volunteer with disabled children in the summer helping them show and ride horses.
2) In high school I sang back up for the band Foreigner with my choir at DTE.
3) I have nine fingers(it's a long story, I like to make people guess).
4) I sing, write my own music and play piano!
5) If I don't have Arizona tea in my dorm at all times, something is probably wrong.
​6) I adopted a puppy of my own in April, his name is Milo.

Stephanie Batterbee































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Year: Senior
Major: Kinesiology with a minor in Health promotion
College: College of Education
Hometown:  DeWitt, Michigan
High School: DeWitt High School
Favorite Event: 4x400
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Pre-Physician Assistant club. I am a Certified Nurse Aide at a nursing home near campus, and I am an intern Medical Assistant for a local urgent care this semester.
What brought you to running club: I ran for a couple years in high school and wanted to find a way to continue running while also making friends!
About Stephanie:
​1) Cute animal videos are the way to my heart
2) Lime White Claw is the worst flavor
3) I can make my eyes vibrate back and forth without moving my head
4) I used to have 2 chinchillas named Poppy and Buggles
5) I had a cat named Suzie who was in my family before I was born and lived until my sophomore year of college
6) I once jumped off of my friends roof because we weren't supposed to be there, but my mom had just called saying that she was coming over to drop something off to me and was almost there. My friend convinced me to jump off the roof into the back yard and then go to the driveway where my mom was and that it was fine because she had jumped off of it before. I jumped and approached my moms car trying to walk normally, but my legs were NOT feelin good. I also then found out my friend had never jumped off the roof before.

Mackenzie Ginste












​Year: Senior
Major: Hospitality Business
College: Broad's the school of Hospitality Business
Hometown: Rochester, Michigan
High School: Rochester Adams
Favorite Event: Maybe the 800m, maybe the 1600m....idk anymore
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: TA for a beverages class
What brought you to running club: Ran track an XC in hs. I figured this is probs where I'd find my kind of crazy since these people like running too....I was right!
About Mackenzie: Once Upon a time.... long before the days of being an MSU RC member, I ran track at Adams High School where low and behold Michael "Discount" Rettschlag (RIP) also went to school. Apparently it was his first day of practice, and I ran past him while also having a coughing attack (yes, once upon a time I was an ok runner and could do this). Apparently, this almost scared Discount out of running because he thought runners actually run themselves to death.

I find that story hilarious because I did not realize this run had such an impact on him until he joined the club 3 years later. Also RIP Discount, we miss you!

Katie Clark
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​Year: Freshman
Major: Accounting
Minor: Spanish
College: Residential Business Community
Hometown: Saline, Michigan
High School: Saline High School
Favorite Event: 5k or the 1600m
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Kappa Delta Sorority, Greek Reaching Out To Christ, Broad Student Senate, Love your melon Ambassador
What brought you to running club: I loved running throughout my high school career and wanted to continue running. I love meeting new people and running together.
About Katie: I was super involved in high school and since coming to Michigan State I wanted to be just as involved here. Running Club has given me this opportunity to do just that with a team as big as my high school (I ran with 150 girls!). I love the outdoors, Hiking, yoga, pretty much any activity except swimming.

Kelsey Grost



























Year: Sophomore
Major: Accounting
Minor: Insurance and risk management
College: College of Business
Hometown: DeWitt, Michigan
High School: DeWitt High School
Favorite Event: Anything longer than a 6k. Half marathons are pretty fun!
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: I'm involved with MSU Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Residential Business Community, and Accounting Student Association. I'm also a TA for a CSE class.
What brought you to running club: My family members are all big runners, so naturally I've been running for as long as I can remember. I did cross country and track in high school, and trained for half marathons in between seasons. I joined running club to meet more people and have the ability to compete!
About Kelsey: 
1. I love to travel! I have family that lives in Sweden, so I've been there a few times.
2. Ice cream is my favorite food, but I'm lactose intolerant. Needless to say,  I'm a big fan of coconut milk halo top!!
3. Sunday morning long runs are my favorite. I've ran 4 half marathons so far and definitely want to run a marathon one day as well!

Jenna Merony





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​Year: Sophomore
Major: Professional Writing
College: College of Arts and Letters
Hometown: Bath, Michigan
High School: East Lansing High School
Favorite Event: Cross country is my favorite, I love doing distance it shows me how far my body can go. I really love half marathons, I’ve only done one but plan on doing many more and hopefully a marathon in my future
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: I work at the Breslin student event center and am a assistant cross country couch to the East Lansing High school team
What brought you to running club: I looked into the running club before my first year because I wanted to still be part of a running family and keep running throughout college
About Jenna: I have a twin! She is not much of a runner but I make her do it with me anyway sometimes. I was born on Halloween (yes me and my twin are twitches we have the moon and sun necklaces to prove it). I love to read and write, especially poetry. 

Joe Dandron





























​Year: Sophomore
Major: Journalism
College: Communication Arts and Sciences
Hometown: Montague, Michigan
High School: Montague High School
Favorite Event: 5k, 3k or 1500
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: I am a volunteer at 88.9 FM The Impact and also cover football, women’s basketball and men’s basketball. I also am an intern at WKAR News. A public radio station!
What brought you to running club: Before coming to MSU, I ran from 7th grade on and knew that when I came to Michigan State that the running club would be a good social outlet for me and help my transition as a freshman.
About Joe: I was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia but was raised here in Michigan. I hope to someday be a sports writer or broadcaster for a major news outlet like ESPN. I also am a huge fan of reading and my favorite author is Stephen King.

Nate Peterson



















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Year: Sophomore
Major: Pre-Nursing
Hometown: Grand Blanc, Michigan
High School: Grand Blanc High School
Favorite Event: 400m, 4x400m 800mn 4x800m, and 5k
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Nursing Student Association
What brought you to running club: I wanted to continue to run and make friends with other runners.
About Nate: One cool thing about me is that I excercised induced asthma yet I still run.  I also love the outdoors and making new freinds.  A funny thing about me is that l got lost on a course once and ended up running 6 miles instead of a 5k.  Major oof.

Taylor Benoit



Year: Sophomore
Major: Undecided
Hometown: Rockford, Michigan
High School: Rockford High School
Favorite Event: SoC1aL rUNn3r
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Business Club
What brought you to running club: I needed friends
About Taylor: I Identify with the character Angela from The Office. I have 634 followers on insta, 83 on twitter, & 365 friends on facebook. only you can be next!!

Emily Gallagher



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​Year: Sophomore
Major: Nursing
College: College of Nursing
Hometown: Traverse City, Michigan
High School: Traverse City Saint Francis
Favorite Event: 6k and 5k 
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Nursing Student Association
What brought you to running club: A chance to meet new friends and stay in shape
About Emily: I didn’t start running until high school but I immediately fell in love with it somehow. I love anything outdoorsy like hiking, swimming, camping and boating. And I am a BIG sports girl whether that involves playing or spectating!

Sophie Franklin


































​Year: Freshman
Major: Physics
College: College of Natural Science
Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI
High School: Farmington High School
Favorite Event: 5k 
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: University Christian Outreach (UCO), and I’m a lifeguard at the pools on campus
What brought you to running club: I love running, but didn’t want a huge commitment
About Sophie:  I’m super nerdy, hence me majoring in physics, and I get super excited when I see mathematical patterns.

I also love musicals, (seriously, my musicals playlist is 25 hours, 43 minutes long) and if you ask me to, I will go into an hour long description of each musical and analyze each song for you in detail, and describe how the character develops throughout the musical, and how not only do the words portray that, but the music behind the words. Don’t make me a choose a favorite though, because they’re all so amazing. Some of my favorite ones that people might know who aren’t musical theatre nerds are Hamilton, Mamma Mia, and Into The Woods!

Grace MacDonald





























​Year: Junior
Major: Psychology
Minor: Spanish
College: College of Social Science
Hometown: Bloomfield Hills, MI
High School: Birmingham Groves High School
Favorite Event: 5k and 1600m
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: MSU Autism Lab Research Assistant
What brought you to running club: I loved cross country in high school and wanted to continue running. I like the optional-ness of racing, the awesome social atmosphere, and having an opportunity to work out and be social at the same time. 

About Grace: I lived in Seoul, South Korea, and Shanghai, China, for 6 years when I was younger! I love Asian food and I can speak a little bit of Korean. I also love being outside.

Amanda Young



























​Year: Sophomore
Major: Human Development and Family Studies, with a minor in Human Behavior and Social Services
College: College of Social Science
Hometown: East Lansing, MI (I live 10 minutes away from MSU)
High School: Haslett High School
Favorite Event: Cross Country and Half Marathons. Definitely a distance girl.
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: I've recently joined PASS, which stands for Pilipino American Student Society. I'm half Chinese and half Filipino! I also volunteer at Haven House, which is a homeless shelter. I make dinner for the families.
What brought you to running club:  For the longest time, it was my dream to run for MSU and I considered trying to walk on. As time went on, I realized that I didn't want to have a huge commitment with being on the actual team. I just wanted to run for fun, but still be competitive and work toward my goals with this sport. After coming to practice the first week, I knew that this was where I was meant to be. Joining Running Club has made me appreciate and love running more. I've met some of my best friends through here, and it makes my heart happy to call our team family.

About Amanda:
1. Besides running, I enjoy lifting and hot yoga.
2. I'm a singer.
3. I love to read and write poetry.
4. I LOVE COOKIE DOUGH.
5. I'm planning on becoming a nurse, just going a different route!
6. Fun (and weird) fact: I can stick my stomach out really far, it's kinda scary.
7. I struggled with an eating disorder for five years. Choosing recovery has been one of the best decisions I've made. I want to help those who are struggling and ignite hope in them, just like those who were able to do so for me.

Audrey Baetz





Year: Senior
Major: Fisheries and Wildlife
College: College of Natural Resources
Hometown: Northville, Michigan
High School: Northville High School
Favorite Event: 400m or 5k's
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Undergraduate Research Assistant, MSU Fly Fishing Club, American Fisheries Society
What brought you to running club: I've been running since middle school and it has just always been my favorite thing to do! I went to community college before coming to MSU, and ran on their cross country team and was captain my second year. When I came here I obviously wanted to keep running so I was super pumped to find out I could not only run with friends, but race too!! Although my classes run too late for me to attend practice this semester, I hope to see and meet all of your smiling faces at the social events and races!
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About Audrey: For certain reasons, I have an entire folder on my flash drive titled "Why Sharks are Cool". This past summer I had a Fisheries Management internship in South Dakota and one of my nicknames was "Lunch Box" due to how much I love eat! I also have a science communication twitter account I use to interact with other people in my field...but mostly it's for fish puns. I've also been inches away from a rattlesnake, and once jumped in a river to save a drowning pigeon!

Charlotte Etienne


























Year: Junior
Major: Biological Science Interdepartmental
College: College of Natural Science
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
High School: East Grand Rapids High School
Favorite Event: 10 mile, 25k, and marathon
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Preschool teacher
what brought you to running club: The freedom to run what I want and the opportunity to run on a team.

​About Charlotte: I started running in middle school and was inspired by my parents to run my first marathon freshman year here. My favorite kind of run to do is an early morning long run on the weekend!

Rachel Harris



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Year: Freshman
Major: Physcology
College: College of Social Science/honors college
Hometown: Grosse Pointe, MI
High School: Grosse Pointe South High School
Favorite Event: 5K, 10k and half marathon 
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: H-STAR, Honors College Dean's Advisory Board, Honors Service Club, Honors Mental Health Club, Hall Government, Psychology Club

what brought you to running club: I love to run and meet new people

​About Rachel: I started running in middle school on the track team, but it wasn't until high school that I started running cross country. The team I was on for my high school had 120 girls on it! It was one of the best things I did in high school and I am so excited to be on another amazing and big team!

Ryan Whinnery
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Year: Sophomore
Major: Computer Science
College: College of Engineering
Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI
High School: Detroit Catholic Central
Favorite Event: 5K and 1600
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: MSU MMA Club


What brought you to Running Club?: My senior year of high school, both of my cross country and track seasons ended off on horrible circumstances. Needless to say, I didn't hit any of my goals I set for those seasons and was not ready to give up running just yet. My sister, who had just graduated from MSU, told me that MSU had a running club, and I started to gain interest in it. I looked up the club, and seeing everything about actually helped me a little bit in deciding to go to MSU. The people, culture, and friends I've made are what keep me coming back day-in and day-out.

About Ryan: Mixed martial arts is my favorite sport and pretty much my passion in life. I don't miss a UFC event if I don't have to, and my one of my biggest life goals is to win a world championship.

I'm also a Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball Super mega-fan. Also the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. I know the canon to all of those franchises by heart.

BIG Hamm's guy

Begoner of THOTS

Maddy Alpert
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Year: Junior
Major: English with a Spanish minor!
College: College of Arts and Letters and College of Education.
Hometown: Huntington Woods, MI (near the Detroit Zoo)
High School: Berkley High School
Favorite Event: 4x400 and the Half Marathon!
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Member of the Global Educators Cohort Program, Member of Pláticas (where you can go and practice speaking Spanish), I love to go to MRULE, and I have a job at Upward Bound MSU which is an after school program for high school students in the Lansing School District


What brought you to Running Club?: I love to run and wanted to continue running in college! I also wanted to beat the Freshman 15. It also is a great way to make friends!

About Maddy: 1) I LOVE to travel!!! I studied abroad during Spring semester of last year in Valencia, Spain. I love anything Spanish related including the language, food, dancing, holidays, etc. I also was able to travel quite a bit throughout Europe when I was there as well!
2) I have run four half marathons and I  hope to run my first marathon in 2019 or 2020!
3) I love working with kids and teenagers of all ages. I have been a camp director for two years for 6 and 7 year olds. During the school year I work with high schoolers at my job. This year I will also be working in a middle school classroom.
4) I am getting my teaching degree and will be certified to teach English and Spanish.
5) Once I receive my teacher certification, I hope to teach in a Spanish-speaking country!

Ellie Haun
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Year: Junior
Major: Food Science
College: College of Agriculture
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Mi
High School: East Grand Rapids High School
Favorite Event: Half Marathon
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: Food Science Club, writer for Spoon University, Slow Foods Club, Honors College, Food Science Undergraduate Research

What brought you to Running Club?: I didn't run competitively in high school. I was on the tennis team, and ran a few days a week as a form of cross training. I started freshman year of MSU on the Club Tennis team, but wanted more physical activity as practice was only twice a week. My friend from high school recommended I join running club, so I came to a practice in mid-September and then kept coming. I fell in love with running with people, pushing myself in workouts, and getting better at running. Because of this club, I met my best friends and tried new things like running a half marathon and a 25k. Joining running club is the best decision I’ve made in college.

About Ellie: I love food, which makes sense since I'm majoring in food science. I write about and photograph food for Spoon University and for my food Instagram (yes, I'm one of those people that photographs their food at restaurants). If you're curious about how much peanut butter I consume on a daily basis, check out @peanutbutterandellllie.

Riley Van Pelt


















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Year: Senior
Major: Advertising Management and Sales Leadership
College: Communication Arts and Sciences
Hometown: New Buffalo, Mi
High School: New Buffalo High School
Favorite Event: 1 mile baby!
Other Activities Outside of MSURC: MSU Global Sales Leadership Society, Academic Orientation Program

What brought you to Running Club?: I joined the running club, because I didn’t want to stop competing in running after high school. I was just starting to find my stride with running, but I wasn’t good enough to be a part of MSU’s actual team. So on one Sunday afternoon during my senior year of high school, I was meeting up with a different running club. A former MSU Running Club member by the name of Old Man Blosser showed up to this particular practice and basically promoted the running club to me. His description sounded perfect to me, so I did some research and follow @MSURunning on Twitter. When they followed me back, I was absolutely pumped. And now I run that Twitter account lmao.

About Riley:

During my freshmen year of college, me and Tommy Brettscheider decided to partake in the Okemos IHOP challenge. The challenge was to beat the record for living in IHOP, which at the time was 54 hours. If we completed this, we would get our names permanently on a plaque in IHOP… and of course have pride. We were super confident that we could complete this challenge easily over Spring Break. In fact, we were too confident.


So after partying the night before, getting 5 hours of sleep, and going on a 9-mile-long run, we entered the doors of IHOP. We had called the manager the night before and he said it would be awesome if we did the challenge. However, a different manager was there the next day and he almost didn’t let us do it. After some thorough convincing by Tommy B, we were able to still do it… except now we were not allowed to sleep. If we slept, we would be kicked out. This added to the whole drama of the experience and made it a much tougher challenge, but we were still going to push through.

The challenge started off easy. We just had to order food every 8 hours and play around on our computers. However, at the 20-hour mark, life started to get really rough for me. To help make my life better, Tommy B and I thought it would be a good idea to order the All You Can Eat Shrimp at IHOP. This would lead to my inevitable downfall. I got sick around hour 28 and had to leave at hour 29, just barely over halfway there. I abandoned Tommy B, and he ended up falling asleep and getting kicked on out at hour 33.

After our failed attempt, our buddy and his friend ended up doing the IHOP challenge last spring. They made it 65 hours and crushed our record without sleeping. RIP. So there are a lot of morals to this story… even the best fall down sometimes, always plan for the worst, there’s always someone better than you, don’t order the All You Can Eat Shrimp at IHOP, etc. Either way, the people you meet on the running club can take you for a wild ride. It’s a fun time. ​​