Chargers compete at Spartan Invitational: Women finish 5th out of 21

Home Charger Cross Country Chargers compete at Spartan Invitational: Women finish 5th out of 21
Chargers compete at Spartan Invitational: Women finish 5th out of 21
Left to right freshman Amber Mango and sophomore Lauren Peterson compete in East Lansing, Michigan on Friday. Call Townsend | Collegian

The Hillsdale Chargers conquered the rolling hills of Forest Akers East Golf Course under the glaring sun in East Lansing, Michigan on Sept. 14. The team took fifth place among 21 teams at the Spartan Invitational. Finishing in front of Hillsdale were three Division I schools, including Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, and Ball State University. 

Sophomore Maryssa Depies led the Chargers and took home a 14th place finish out of 230 runners in 22 minutes and 11.3 seconds. 

“I felt like the race went really well,” Depies said. “Our coach created a racing strategy for each of us which helped me stay focused throughout the race.”

Following Depies was junior Arena Lewis, who finished 20th overall in 22:26.5. 

Finishing 38th overall and third for the Chargers was sophomore Christina Sawyer. She crossed the finish line in 23:12.2. Senior Allysen Eads finished in 78th place with a time of 24:12.8. 

A pair of sophomores, Megan Poole and Lauren Peterson, each had breakout races, shaving considerable time off their previous personal bests. Poole finished 88th overall in 24:19.0, improving her previous-best time by nearly a minute and a half. Right behind her was Peterson in 89th, finishing in 24:23.9, whose previous best was 25:12.4. 

“I feel a lot stronger this season. I didn’t do as much volume in high school, so it was a tough transition into mileage last year,” Poole said. “I think I’ve just built up my mileage base and finally adjusted to the training.” 

Assistant coach R.P. White said he is especially proud of Poole and Peterson.

“They were able to showcase all the hard work they put in over the summer,” White said. “They’re great examples of how important it is to learn from their freshman experience and build upon that.”

White was pleased with the team’s overall performance as well.

“Overall, the girls ran smart races,” he said. “We’ve talked a lot about strategy and managing emotions and nerves in the beginning stages of their races and workouts. They did a really nice job of that.”

Depies credits the earlier start to the season for helping manage some of those nerves.

“The meet earlier in the season was definitely beneficial,” she said. “It shook off the rust from the summer and it lessened my nerves going into the second race.”

The team will be traveling to Louisville, Kentucky on Sept. 29 to compete in the Greater Louisville Classic.

“As far as the rest of the season,” Poole said, “I am definitely excited to see if I can drop my times even more, and I would really like to help my team in the finals.”