Senior Liz Wamsley placed 11th at the 2023 NCAA Division II Championships. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

After finishing first at the NCAA DII Midwest Region Championships, junior Liz Wamsley finished in 11th place in the women’s cross-country NCAA DII Championships Nov. 18, in Joplin, Missouri.

Wamsley earned All-American honors for the second time in cross-country career and her fourth time as a Hillsdale athlete with a time of 20:11.9 minutes, nearly a minute faster than her national time the previous year. 

“The goal was to improve on last year’s cross-country performance, so it’s really exciting to do that and know that it wasn’t a fluke the first time,” Wasmely said. 

Wamsley recorded the highest national placement for a female cross-country runner at Hillsdale since 2017. 

“I was glad to be able to do that for my coach and the program, just to prove that it’s such a good program,” Wamsley said.

Wamsley flew to Joplin shortly before her race. 

“It’s good to just kind of like get a little bit of distance from school and everything like that before competing,” Wamsley said.

, Wamsley ran the track to familiarize herself with the hills and turns the day before the meet.

“It was a lot hillier than I expected,” Wamsley said. “There were a lot of turns and switchbacks.”

Since the Chargers practice on backroads and in Hayden Park, Wamsley said she thought the hills gave her an edge.

“If you know how to run hills, that can be advantageous since many people haven’t trained on hills,” Wamsley said. “You can really use the downhills to build momentum by leaning into them without even trying to speed up.”

Wamsley said she used the hills to close the gap between herself and several of her opponents.

“We started off the release very, very fast, so I got a little bit buried at the beginning and had to work my way up pretty quickly,” Wamsley said.

Wamsley made her way to the front of the pack where she said she enjoyed running with some of the nation’s fastest competitors.

“When I caught up to the front pack, I thought it was really cool to be running with that group and holding my own,” Wamsley said. 

Freshman cross-country runner Savannah Fraley drove down with sophomore runner Anna Roberts to watch Wamsley compete.

“We drove down right away Friday morning, watched the race on Saturday, and then drove back right after the race,” Fraley said. “It was definitely a lot of driving, but definitely worth it.”

Fraley said she would do the drive again to watch Wamsley compete, given the opportunity.

“She’s obviously in an all-American range, which is insane in itself, and she ran a really good race,” Fraley said. “So we’re all pretty proud of her, and it was really cool to watch her.”

Fraley said she did not want Wamsley to run her last race alone.

“She’d still have coach, but it’s really nice to have your teammates with you,” Fraley said.

After the race, Wamsley said she had a cup of coffee and a steak dinner and went to bed happy.

“Running from Hillsdale has been an amazing experience,” Wamsley said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Wamsley said she was incredibly grateful for her teammates and will miss competing alongside them.

“I’ve met some of the best people here. Some of my closest friends are on this team and have influenced me so much — even just outside of running,” Wamsley said. “It’s sad to end it, but I’m excited to see the next group of girls on the team continue and get the same experience.”