An extremely young Hillsdale College women's cross country team wrapped up a successful season with a 23rd place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday morning in St. Leo, Florida.
The Chargers, with three freshmen and three sophomores in their top seven, finished with 570 total points in the meet, won by Adams State with Grand Valley State finishing as runner-up. Hillsdale had a strong finish to the race, moving up three spots in the team standings over the final kilometer thanks to several big moves from athletes in the Chargers' top five scoring runners.
Leading the way for Hillsdale was freshman Liz Wamsley, who in her second season with the Chargers finished less than 13 seconds away from All-American status in 55th place overall, in a time of 21:41.1. Wamsley was one of the Charger runners who made a big move at the 5K mark, passing seven competitors in a last-ditch attempt to get into the top 40. While it came up just short, with three more years of eligibility remaining, Wamsley's first national meet appearances lays a strong foundation for future seasons to come and wraps up a year where she led Hillsdale in every race and earned All-G-MAC and All-Region honors.
Another Charger freshman, Abby Scherer, crossed the line second for Hillsdale in 128th place. Scherer also made a move at the 5K mark, passing four runners to improve her position and finishing in 22:30.9, just a few seconds off her career personal best at the college level. Scherer is another strong foundational piece for Hillsdale going forward with three more years of eligibility.
Close behind Scherer was sophomore Margaret Scheske, who finished in 130th place in a time of 22:32.0 as well for Hillsdale, and the Chargers' biggest mover, junior Claire McNally, who gained 24 spots in the final 1.7K of Saturday's race to finish in 150th (22:48.9) and give the Chargers a big late boost in the team standings.
Sophomore Gwynne Riley finished in 193rd place (23:24.3), passing seven runners in the final kilometer to round out Hillsdale's scoring runners. In their first national meet appearances for the Chargers, freshman Vera Thompson took 200th (23:33.4) and sophomore Natalie Martinson took 238th (24:35.5).
The showing bodes well for the future for Hillsdale, as all seven of its finishers from Saturday have eligibility remaining to return for the fall 2022 season, and the Chargers will also look to bolster their lineup with additional recruits this winter and spring. Continued growth and improvement on what was a solid foundation built this year could see Hillsdale making a big leap up in the standings at next year's national championship meet.
Photo Courtesy of Cedarville Athletics