A busy weekend for the Hillsdale College men's cross country team included a solid showing at the Louisville Cross Country Classic for the team's top runners on Saturday.
Hillsdale competed in the Blue Division Race of this nationally-known collegiate meet that brings together teams from around the country, finishing 15th in a field of 45 schools from across NCAA Division I, II and III and beating out G-MAC rivals Tiffin and Ohio Dominican.
Sophomore Alex Mitchell continued an impressive start to the season for the Chargers by running a nearly 30-second PR in Saturday's 8K race, placing 47th in 25:09.3 in a tough field. Close behind was junior teammate Mark Sprague, who also ran a personal-best time of 25:24.3 to finish 67th, as well as sophomore Donnie McArdle, who got a personal best time of his own in 25:27.8 to finish 74th.
Hillsdale's other two scoring runners also ran impressive PR's to help the Chargers move up the team standings. Junior Isaac Waffle finished 116th in a new personal best time of 25:48.3, while sophomore Ross Kuhn took nearly a minute and a half off his previous personal best and nearly broke the 26 minute mark, finishing 145th in a time of 26:01.1.
Sophomore Richie Johnston was close behind Kuhn with a personal best of his own, finishing 161st for the Chargers in a time of 26:08.5, and freshman Nathaniel Osborne also ran a PR of 26:16.6 to take 183rd overall. Junior Sean Hoeft finished 201st in 26:25.7, also a personal best as well for Hillsdale.
While all eight of Hillsdale's runners set new personal bests, it was especially encouraging to see the massive improvements made by the back end of the Chargers' team. By closing the gap to the front runner, it helps drastically lower Hillsdale's team score and potentially allows for more pack running for the Chargers, an encouraging development with the G-MAC Championships just over a month away.
Lansing Invitational
The Charger men also sent a partial squad to Grand Woods Park in Lansing on Friday, giving more of the squad a chance to compete.
Hillsdale's team finished sixth out of 11 squads in the Lansing XC Invitational, hosted by Lansing Community College.
Sophomore Caleb Bigler took 27th to lead the Chargers in the five mile race, finishing in 26:53.9 for a new personal best, and Hillsdale had two more runners close behind, as fellow sophomore Caleb Oser ran a personal best time of 27:12.9 to finish 33rd, and freshman Emil Schlueter finished 36th in 27:18.9 in his first collegiate five mile race.
Junior Dylan Palmer took 54th in a new five mile PR time of 28:09.0 as well for Hillsdale, while freshman Mark Masaka rounded out the Chargers' scoring runners, finishing his first collegiate five mile race in 58th with a time of 28:19.5.
The Chargers travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin next weekend for their next competition, the Lucian Rosa Invite, taking place on the course that will host the NCAA DII Midwest Regional in November, looking to continue to improve and drop time as championship meet season approaches.