The Chargers took first place as a team at the Diemer Classic in their first meet of the season. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale men’s cross country team opened its season by taking first place at the Calvin University’s Diemer Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 1.
The Chargers had four runners finish in the top five They faced athletes from Calvin, a few Calvin cross country alumni, and Grand Rapids Community College. Hillsdale placed 25 points ahead of Calvin with 37 in second place.
Taking first place individually was senior Alex Mitchell, who made the 2022 All G-MAC Second Team. Mitchell kicked off his senior season with a 5k time of 15:15 minutes, and a pace of 3:03 minutes per kilometer.
“The last couple of years, our first meet has been fairly rough, so to open with a pretty decisive win is super promising.” Mitchell said, “The summer is always pretty tough with everyone running a lot of miles on their own, often in the heat and fitting it in before work, so being able to show our fitness after a long training block is always super rewarding.”
The other three Chargers in the leading pack finished third, fourth, and fifth. Senior Micah Vanderkooi took third place with a time of 15:20 minutes, while junior Ross Kuhn, competing for the first time since October of last season, finished fourth at 15:25 minutes. Following Kuhn was junior Richie Johnston who took fifth place with a time of 15:26 minutes.
“It feels great to be back. I was just excited to be able to compete again after an injury last year,” Kuhn said. “We knew that we had something special with this team and it was exciting to see all the hard work from the summer pay off in the race. This is just the beginning though, we have a long season and need to make sure we are primed and ready on Nov. 4.”
Johnston said this first race of the season went well from both an individual and team standpoint.
“It was great to be in a competitive environment again and to run alongside my boys,” Johnston said. “I ran a pretty big personal best, but I know there’s still more work to be done before championship season.”
The next Charger to cross the finish line was junior Donny McArdle. He took 12th place overall with a time of 15:46 minutes.
McArdle was followed by freshman Caleb Youngstedt, who finished his first collegiate race at the 16:10 minute mark, which was good enough for 15th place overall.
Just one second after Youngstedt was senior Sean Hoeft, who kicked off his senior campaign with a 16:11 minute time, earning himself 16th place in the meet. Finishing after Hoeft was senior Caleb Oser, who took 18th place, finishing at the 16:16 minute mark.
Other Chargers competing in the Diemer Classic included sophomores Seth Jankowski, Mark Masaka, and Emil Schlueter. Schlueter was the first to finish of the three runners, earning 21st overall at the 16:31 minute mark. Jankowski and Masaka finished together, tying for 24th overall at 16:42 minutes.
The Chargers’ next meet will be the Warrior Challenge, which is hosted by the Wayne State University Warriors on Sept. 15. The following weekend, the team will head to Lansing Community College to compete in the Lansing Invitational Sept. 22.