Schedule
2021 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, Saturday Oct. 23 | men race at 9:30 a.m. and women race at 10:30 a.m. | Elvin R. King Cross Country Course - Cedarville, OH
Links
Live Results | Webcast | Championship Page | Course Map | Tickets
Information
Top 20 finishers in each race will receive All-G-MAC honors, with top 10 finishers earning first-team honors, and G-MAC Runner, Coach and Freshman of the Year awards will also be given out...Fans will be permitted to attend and can purchase tickets on the G-MAC website at the link above for $8 each. Spectators will be asked to adhere to signage placed around the course, which includes compliance with local and state guidelines... Assorted championship merchandise will be sold on site. Debit or credit card purchases will be preferred.
Women's Preview
After a runner-up finish in the 2020 G-MAC Championship race, the Hillsdale College women head to Cedarville looking to retake the crown and extend a streak of top-two finishes in the G-MAC to five years.
They'll have to overcome a tough field to do so, as two top 25 teams in the nation are the co-favorites to bring home this year's crown. Cedarville, ranked 16th in Division II, has long had a conference front-runner in senior Alayna Ackley. However, with the improvement made by teammate Bethany Sholl and the arrival of Alayna's younger sister, Savannah, the Yellow Jackets look poised for their first G-MAC crown since 2016.
Defending champion Walsh, ranked 25th in the nation, can't be counted out either, with several All-G-MAC runners returning led by senior Alexa Leppelmeier. And while Malone hasn't been on the same level as Cedarville and Walsh, the Pioneers likely have the race winner in multi-time conference champion Mackenna Curtis-Collins and will be a factor too.
Hillsdale hopes to disrupt that lead pack with season-best performances from a young but talented squad.
The Chargers return two second-team All-G-MAC finishers from last year's championship meet, led by second-year freshman Liz Wamsley, who placed 12th in the G-MAC championships last year and has been the top finisher in every race so far for the Chargers. Sophomore Margaret Scheske also returns after placing 13th last year to give the Chargers another experienced athlete with proven success in high-pressure races.
Behind those two standouts, Hillsdale is looking to freshman Abby Scherer, who's been the second or third finisher for the Chargers in every race so far this year, to make a big contribution, as well as experienced competitors Gwynne Riley, a sophomore and Claire McNally, a junior.
The Chargers are certainly underdogs coming into this year's competition, but cross country is about peaking at the right time, and Hillsdale could be ready to surprise on Saturday.
Men's Preview
Entering Saturday's G-MAC Championships, the Hillsdale College men's cross country team is hoping to put everything together after an autumn where injuries have meant the Chargers have yet to put their best seven on the starting line at a meet.
If the Chargers can run at full strength, they could be a dark horse in the championship meet, with several pieces returning from a team that finished runner-up to Walsh in 2019, including two athletes who have earned first-team All-G-MAC honors.
Junior Adam Wier was sixth in 2020 G-MAC Championship meet and has run well so far for the Chargers to date, finishing as the top runner for Hillsdale in every meet he's run so far. Teammate and senior Mark Miller, who was close behind in seventh at the 2020 G-MAC Championships, has battled injuries all fall but had an encouraging fifth-place finish in his last outing at the Lansing Cross Country Invitational.
Second-year freshman Alex Mitchell has been the second finisher behind Wier all season for the Chargers, and is a critical part of the lineup, as is sophomore Mark Sprague, who's also starting to fight his way back from injuries of his own.
Hillsdale will look to a group of first-year college cross country runners– Micah Vanderkooi, Donnie McArdle and Ross Kuhn, among others – to make the leap and help push them to a better-than expected finish on Saturday.
Two-time defending champion Walsh is the favorite to repeat on Saturday, with Cedarville on their home course looking like the closest challenger. Hillsdale will look to break into that front group and post a surprise finish on Saturday.