Sophomore Sophia Maeda had a smashing 2019 season debut at Saturday's Knight Invitational at Calvin College, easily setting a new PR in time and place of finish. Tuesday, she was further recognized for her performance.
Madea was the first winner of the G-MAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week award for the 2019 season. The award was announced and chosen by the conference office.
Leading the pack for the 11th-ranked Chargers, Maeda turned in a career-best performance at the Knight Invitational, finishing third overall with a time of 22:03.01 int he 6K race. Her high finish was a big reason why Hillsdale blew away the competition, winning the event with 84 points, 32 ahead of second-place Oberlin.
Maeda is one of four Hillsdale College athletes who won a conference player of the week honor following the first week of competition in the 2019-20 school year.