The Hillsdale College men's cross country team used a strong closing mile and half to jump up the standings and finish in fourth place at Saturday's G-MAC Championships, hosted at Hillcrest Golf Course in Findlay, Ohio.
The Chargers overtook Findlay for the fourth spot late in a competitive team race, thanks to a career-best day from junior Mark Sprague. After battling injuries for the past season, Sprague put it all together on Saturday to live up to the promise he's shown throughout his career, taking eighth overall in 25:05.8, a career best time in an 8K for the junior. That eighth place finish earns Sprague a first-team All-G-MAC honor, his first in cross country for the Chargers.
Hillsdale's Alex Mitchell also had a solid race on Saturday to earn second-team honors, his first G-MAC cross country honor. Mitchell took 18th in 25:26.8 for Hillsdale, improving on his 25th place finish in 2021 and breaking into the top 20 for the Chargers.
Strong pack running helped Hillsdale pass Findlay and hold off Tiffin for the fourth spot. Sophomore Micah Vanderkooi took 28th in 25:56.2, and junior Isaac Waffle finished just behind in 25:53.8 to take 29th. Junior Sean Hoeft took 51st (26:38.2) for the Chargers to give Hillsdale just enough to beat out the Oilers and Dragons, while Donnie McArdle (53rd, 26:49.6) and Nathaniel Osborne (58th, 26:51.3) proved to be important placeholders for Hillsdale.
Emil Schlueter took 75th (27:23.8) in a personal best time, and Caleb Oser finished 80th (27:32.3) as well for Hillsdale.
The Chargers next head to Kenosha, Wisconsin in two weeks to compete in the NCAA DII Midwest Regional, looking to better their finish of 19th as a team last season and contend for more postseason honors.
Photo courtesy of Findlay Athletics.