After the teams split up to compete in two meets in two states last week, Hillsdale College cross-country is now preparing for the GLIAC Championships in Linwood, Mich on Oct. 20.
The varsity teams traveled to Kenosha, Wis. for the University of Wisconsin – Parkside, and the rest to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. While sickness temporarily crippled the men’s team, coaches said they expect the Hillsdale runners of both sexes to be healthy and ready to run at the conference meet on Saturday.
The women, led by senior team captain Victoria McCaffrey, scored 109, and placed 3rd of 18 teams behind Ferris State University (60) and Wayne State University (90).
McCaffrey placed 4th in the 5000-meter race in 18:24.9. Freshmen Emily Oren (6th, 18:26.9) and Kristina Galat (10th, 18:31.1) finished second and third for the Chargers. Sophomores Shena Albaugh (43rd, 19:19.2) and Amy Kerst (46th, 19:22.5) rounded out the top five for the women.
Leading the men, sophomore Joshua Mirth placed 2nd in the men’s 8000-meter run in a time of 24:59.8. The team scored 192 and finished 8th of 15 teams behind three GLIAC teams, including Ferris (2nd), Wayne (4th), and Tiffin University (7th).
Finishing second for the Hillsdale men was sophomore Luke Hickman (25:51.6), followed by freshman John Bell (40th, 26:10.8), freshman Paul Ausum (55th, 26:26.3), and senior team captain Andrew Koehlinger (71st, 27:05.8).
For his Kenosha race, Mirth was named GLIAC runner of the week.
The rest of both the men’s and women’s team traveled to the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships at Calvin. Freshman Sarah Johnson (66th, 19:38.8) finished first for the women and freshman Nolan Wojtowicz (60th, 26:24.8) for the men.
The varsity men were without top runners sophomore Matt Perkins and senior team captain Matt Van Egmond at the Kenosha meet due to sickness. Both are expected to be healthy for the conference meet. Assistant coach RP White said he’s confident the men won’t miss a beat heading into the final weeks of the season.
“I definitely think we are flying under the radar and everyone is really confident [in the team’s fitness],” White said. “At this point we’re just focusing on bettering ourselves and, if we run our best race at conference and regionals, that puts us in a good position to get to the national meet.”
For the women, head women’s coach Andrew Towne echoed White’s confidence. He praised the women for their improvement from the beginning of the season and described the Kenosha race as the Hillsdale women’s “best performance of the year.”
The conference meet will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
