After a longer-than-expected layoff and a summer of uncertainty, the Hillsdale College men's cross country team got back to competition on Saturday on their home course at Hayden Park.
Hillsdale took third behind G-MAC rivals Walsh and Malone in the four-team Hillsdale Invitational, finishing with 72 points to beat out another conference rival, Findlay.
Junior Adam Wier got the 2020 season off to a strong start as Hillsdale's lone top 10 finisher in the meet, taking eighth in 26:49 to lead the Chargers in the 8K race.
Senior Mark Miller took 15th (27:25) and sophomore Mark Sprague finished 17th (27:29) to give Hillsdale three runners in the top 20 in Saturday's event, and freshman Alex Mitchell had a strong showing in his first collegiate event, taking 22nd (27:52) to finish as Hillsdale's fourth runner.
Sophomore Sean Hoeft took 26th (28:01) to round out the Chargers' scoring five, and senior Morgan Morrison took 29th (28:13) and sophomore Isaac Waffle (28:44) finished 31st as well.
While the Charger men finished behind two conference rivals in Saturday's meet, they've still got six weeks until the 2020 G-MAC Championship meet to close the gap on the Cavaliers and Pioneers and contend for the G-MAC title.
Hillsdale gets back to work over the next two weeks, and will next race at the Tiffin Invite on Oct. 2, where they'll get a chance to compete with G-MAC rivals again and tune up for the conference championship meet, which will be back in Tiffin on Oct. 24.
PHOTO: Hillsdale's Mark Miller (1962) and Mark Sprague (1968) work together to try and chase down the lead pack early in Saturday's Hillsdale Invitational at Hayden Park. Photo by Kasidy Carson.
