We're just one day away from the start of the cross country season, and the Hillsdale College women's team is looking forward to chasing a return to the top of the G-MAC.
The Chargers compete in the Olivet Open tomorrow to kick off the 2022 campaign, and Hillsdale already is getting an early sense of where they stack up in the G-MAC, the Midwest Region and nationally thanks to the release of multiple polls in the past few days.
Hillsdale was ranked fourth in the Midwest Region and 16th in the country at the NCAA Division II level in polls released by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, the G-MAC coaches weighed in, picking Hillsdale to finish third out of 13 teams, behind defending champion Cedarville and 2021 runner-up Walsh.
Hillsdale, which received two of the 13 first-place votes, was the 2019 G-MAC Champion and took third at last year's G-MAC Championships. The Chargers also qualified for the NCAA DII National Championship meet for the eighth-straight season, finishing 23rd place in the nation in St. Leo, Florida in late November 2021.
The Chargers return several competitors from last year's successful squad, including all three of the team's All-G-MAC runners. Sophomore Liz Wamsley was third in the G-MAC last season, earned All-Region honors and will be the team's leader in 2022, while teammates Margaret Scheske and Gwynne Riley, both juniors, also return after receiving second-team All-G-MAC honors.
All three athletes had strong track and field seasons this past spring, each earning a qualifying berth to the 2022 NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Grand Valley State -- Wamsley in the 10,000m run, Scheske in the 3,000m steeplechase, and Riley in the 1,500m run.
Hillsdale's fourth runner in the regional, sophomore Vera Thompson also returns, as does junior Natalie Martinson, to give Hillsdale a solid lineup to work with.
Two new additions look to give Hillsdale additional depth – Kaitlyn Rust, a mid-distance standout for the Hillsdale College track and field team who will compete in cross country for the first time this year, as well as incoming freshman Katie Edison, who joins her older sister Brynn on this year's team and comes to the program from a powerhouse East Grand Rapids high school program.
Including the Olivet Open, Hillsdale will compete in six meets prior to the G-MAC Championships, including big races on Oct. 1 in Louisville against top competition nationally, and on Oct. 8 in the always tough Lucian Rosa Invite at the Parkside Course in Kenosha where the NCAA DII Midwest Regional will be contested.
Findlay hosts the G-MAC Championships on Nov. 5, where Hillsdale will look to take back the title it last won in 2019, and the Midwest Regional will be held on Nov. 19. The NCAA DII National Championships will be held in Seattle this year, on Dec. 2.