The Hillsdale College women's cross country team placed six runners in the top 15 at Saturday's Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship meet, matching a program best at the G-MAC Championships set in 2017.
Despite the strong showing by the Chargers, however, Hillsdale came up short to Walsh in the final team standings, as the Cavaliers edged out the Chargers by a 30-46 score that was closer than it looks in Saturday's 6K women's race.
All five of Walsh and all five of Hillsdale's scoring runners crossed the finish line within a minute of each other, but though the margins between the runners were slim, they pointed in the Cavaliers' favor when the dust settled.
The Chargers, who won the 2019 G-MAC title in a similarly tight race over Walsh, took second as a team, finishing in the top two in the championship race for the fourth straight season.
Hillsdale was led by another strong individual performance from senior Maryssa Depies, who finished third (21:38.0) to secure first-team All-G-MAC honors for the fourth time in her career.
Depies, a mainstay in the Charger lineup since joining the team as a freshman in 2017, has now posted three top-three individual finishes at the G-MAC Championships in her career, and has never finished worse than fourth in a G-MAC Championship meet.
Fellow senior Christina Sawyer took seventh for the Chargers (22:07.4) to earn first-team all-conference honors as well.
Four Chargers were close behind Sawyer to earn second-team All-GMAC honors, led by junior Sophia Maeda, who took 11th (22:18.1) to finish as the Chargers' third runner.
Also scoring for Hillsdale were freshman Liz Wamsley, who continued a strong start to her Charger career with a 12th place finish in a new personal best time of 22:26.9, and sophomore Margaret Scheske, who took 13th (22:30.4).
Senior Megan Poole took 15th for the Chargers with a new personal best of 22:31.9, earning the first All-G-MAC cross country honor of her career in the process, and junior Claire McNally finished 26th (23:05.3) as well.
Senior Lauren Peterson finished 32nd (23:19.0) for Hillsdale, and Natalie Martinson finished 41st (23:43.8)
The team finish continues an excellent rivalry with Walsh that seems to gain steam each passing year. The two programs have finished first or second in every G-MAC Championship meet since the they both joined the conference in 2017. Hillsdale has claimed a pair of titles in close races over Walsh, in 2017 and 2019, while the Cavaliers came out on top in 2018 and in Saturday's meet. Both teams figure to be contenders again in 2021.
With the NCAA Division II Fall Championships having been canceled in the summer, the G-MAC Championship race marks the end of the 2020 cross country season at Hillsdale College. The Charger athletes now turn their focus to the indoor track and field season, where they'll look to help Hillsdale defend its 2019-20 indoor G-MAC title.
PHOTO: The Hillsdale women's cross country team's All-G-MAC runners for 2020, (from left) Margaret Scheske, Christina Sawyer, Megan Poole, Liz Wamsley, Sophia Maeda and Maryssa Depies.
