With eight runners in the top 10, the Hillsdale College women's cross country team won the Tiffelberg Invitational on Friday, capturing their second meet title in as many tries in 2020. The Chargers beat five other conference foes as the University of Findlay took second with 56 points and Malone University finished third with 84, making Hillsdale's 18-point performance even more impressive.
Senior Maryssa Depies led the charge with a time of 21:28, which is on pace for a new personal best in the 6k later this season. While today's Seneca Hills Golf Club course might not have been as daunting as the hills of Hayden Park, Depies's time tops last month's race by nearly a minute.
Junior Sophia Maeda put together a solid race as well as the only other runner in today's meet to break the 22-minute barrier. She finished in 21:59.5 to secure second.
Just thirty seconds after Maeda, the Chargers flooded the finish line, capturing fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh places. Sophomore Gwynne Riley led that pack in 22:30.7, with junior Claire McNally next in 22:32.1, Margaret Scheske in 22:35.9, and freshman Liz Wamsley in 22:38.0.
Coming off of an impressive personal-best race last weekend, senior Megan Poole continues to improve, this time even more drastically with a new best time by more than a minute. Her time of 22:55.2 was speedy enough to capture ninth, making her the seventh Charger to finish in the top 10 overall.
After battling through injuries and missing out on last year's cross country season, junior Lauren Peterson is making her comeback with a new personal best time of 23:02.7. She finished 10th overall.
The next time the Chargers take this course will be in three weeks at the G-MAC Conference Championship meet on Oct. 24. This will be a chance to secure back-to-back conference titles, and after tonight's performance, they can approach the meet with confidence in their depth and speed.
Written by Calli Townsend
Photo: Charger women's cross country runners (from left) Megan Poole, Gwynne Riley, Claire McNally and Margaret Scheske run as a pack during Friday's Tiffelberg Invite. Photo by Josh Burkholder/Tiffin University.