For the first time since 2012, the Hillsdale College women's cross country team didn't end its season at the NCAA Division II national championships in 2020.
That wasn't because the Chargers failed to qualify – it was because the meet was never held due to the covid-19 pandemic.
As the 2021 season approaches, Hillsdale's men's and women's cross country teams are eager to get back to normalcy after a strange year that included just three races and ended at the G-MAC Championships in November.
The Chargers have a full slate in 2021, beginning with the Knight Invite hosted by Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI on Sept. 4, and including strong and competitive meets full of Midwest regional contenders, like the Lucian Rosa Invite in Kenosha, WI on Sept. 18, and the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by the University of Notre Dame on Oct. 1.
You can find the full schedule for the Charger women and men here.
The women will bring a young but talented to team to the line in 2021 looking to continue a strong run in the G-MAC and get back to the national meet for the eighth consecutive time as a program, while the men, with significant returning talent, will look to step up in G-MAC competition and contend for their first NCAA championship berth since 2016.
Hillsdale's women have big holes to fill at the top of the lineup, with both first-team All-G-MAC runners from 2020, Maryssa Depies and Christina Sawyer, having graduated, as well as Megan Poole, the Chargers' sixth runner at the G-MAC Championships.
The Chargers have some exciting talent coming back, however. Junior Sophia Maeda was second at the Tiffelberg Invite last year, has made the All-G-MAC second team twice, and should lead the way for Hillsdale. She's joined by a solid pack that includes freshman Elizabeth Wamsley, who had an impressive debut that included second-team All-G-MAC honors in 2020, and sophomore Meg Scheske, who was also second-team All-G-MAC for the Chargers in 2020 and an outdoor track and field national meet qualifier in the 3,000m steeplechase, as well as experienced stalwarts Claire McNally and Gwynne Riley, both former All-G-MAC competitors.
The Chargers also can rely on a solid crop of new and returning freshmen who could break into the top seven. Hillsdale finished second to Walsh at the G-MAC championship meet last year, and has never finished lower than second in the G-MAC since joining in 2017, with titles in 2017 and 2019.
There are encouraging signs for the men as well, who return five of their top seven from a team that finished fourth in the G-MAC Championship meet last year, just three points behind third-place Cedarville.
Both first-team All-G-MAC runners return for Hillsdale, led by junior Adam Wier, who won the Tiffelberg Invite title as well for the Chargers. Senior Mark Miller is also back for a fifth year and provides veteran leadership and consistent placement near the top of the G-MAC pack.
The key for the Charger men is to build depth, placing additional runners in the top 25 at the conference meet. Sophomores Mark Sprague and Isaac Waffle, as well as freshman Alex Mitchell, should continue to build off of a solid 2020 season, and Hillsdale is hoping senior Jack Shelley will return healthy after battling injuries the last two seasons and find the form he had as a sophomore in 2018.
A strong incoming freshman class that includes the D4 state champion in Arizona, Richie Johnston, among several decorated athletes, could be just the spark the team needs to leap up the standings, not just in the G-MAC but in the Midwest Region.
As always, the focus for the Chargers is on preparing for the big end-of-season meets where championships are decided. Hillsdale's first shot at a championship is the G-MAC Championships, which are on Oct. 23 and hosted this year by Cedarville University in southern Ohio.
Following on the heels of that race, the Chargers will compete in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional in Evansville, Indiana on Nov. 6, looking to punch their tickets to the national championships.
The NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships are in St. Leo, Florida in 2021. The last time St. Leo hosted the cross country title, both Hillsdale's men and women qualified to run as teams, the first time in program history both the men and the women competed in a NCAA Cross Country championship.