In a promising season opener, the Hillsdale women's cross country team took fourth against a strong field this Saturday in Grand Rapids at the Calvin Knight invite.
Freshman Liz Wamsley led the Chargers with a strong opening race, taking seventh overall with a time of 22:33. In her first collegiate race, freshman Abby Scherer was the second Charger to cross the line, finishing her just three places behind Wamsley in 10th with a time of 22:47 to give the Chargers strong representation at the front of the pack.
Hillsdale also got big races from sophomore Gwynne Riley, who finished 20th (23:21) overall, and junior Claire McNally, who crossed the line a second behind Riley to place 21st (23:22). Rounding out the Charger's top five scoring performances, freshman Vera Thompson placed 25th (23:27) to give Hillsdale five runners in the top 25.
Sophomore Natalie Martinson took 32nd (24:14), and freshman Kayla Loescher opened her first collegiate race as Hillsdale's seventh finisher, placing 38th (24:31) overall.
This encouraging start bodes well for Hillsdale's appearance at the 2021 G-MAC Conference Championship in seven weeks, where they will face defending champion Walsh as well as other stiff competition.
Before they reach the Championship, the Chargers will run in two more meets. The team has two weeks to prepare for their next meet on Sep. 18, when they'll travel to Wisconsin to compete in the Lucian Rosa Invite.
Written by Allison Nimtz '23
Photo by Kasidy Carson '23