If there was any doubt as to who the top two women's cross country teams in the GLIAC are, Saturday's conference championship meet removed all doubt.
The meet was dominated by No. 1-ranked Hillsdale and No. 3-ranked Grand Valley State. Those two teams took eight of the top nine places individually at the race, held at the Kensington Metro Park in suburban Detroit.
The Lakers captured their 15th consecutive GLIAC championship with 30 team points, edging out the Chargers who finished with 38.
Hillsdale College senior Emily Oren was easily the GLIAC individual champion, putting together an outstanding race that blew away a talented field. She won the 6K race in 21:11.1, more than seven seconds faster than meet runner-up Gina Patterson from GVSU.
The top 10 finishers in a race might as well have been a listing of the rosters from Hillsdale and Grand Valley State. Only Malone's Hannah Campbell and Northern Michigan's Kameron Burmeister interrupted the Laker-Charger domination among the top 10 finishers. Hillsdale and Grand Valley State accounted for the top six overall finishers at the meet.
Senior Kristina Galat placed fourth overall with a time of 21:35.6. GVSU's Jordan Chester and Hillsdale's Hannah McIntyre were listed with identical times of 21:43.9, however, the official results gave fifth place to Chester and sixth place to McIntyre, a crucial point swing between the two juggernauts.
Junior Molly Oren took ninth overall at 22:05.1, while Hillsdale's fifth scorer was freshman Allysen Eads, who was 19th with a time of 22:44.3. The Lakers' top five runners all finished in the top 12, giving them enough of a margin to win the meet.
Both Oren sisters, Galat and McIntyre were all named First-Team All-GLIAC thanks to their high finishes at the meet.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale and GVSU figure to tangle for another trophy in two weeks as they compete at the Midwest Regionals, hosted by Southern Indiana University, Saturday, Nov. 7 in Evansville.
PHOTO CREDIT: Anders Kiledal