Junior Liz Wamsley led the Chargers to second place in Lansing. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale women’s cross country team took second place at the Lansing Invitational 5k at Grand Woods Park Sept. 22. Junior Liz Wamsley won the race, taking her third victory in as many meets this season.
The Davenport University Panthers won the meet with 43 points followed by Hillsdale with 51 points. Spring Arbor University came in third with 111 points, and the next 11 teams lagged behind with well over 100 points.
Wamsley, an All-American in both indoor and outdoor track, as well as cross country in the 2022-23 season, completed the course with an 18:33.5 minute time — almost 30 seconds before the next contestant. She previously won the Diemer Classic and Warrior Challenge.
“In the upcoming meet, there’s going to be a lot more competition, so it won’t be quite as easy to secure a win,” Wamsley said. “But it’s nice to have a bit of that success at the beginning of the season for sure. We’re at a good place right now.”
Three of Hillsdale’s freshmen placed in the meet: Savannah Fraley finished in 19:20.5 minutes in sixth place, Megan Roberts finished in 20:17.2 minutes in 19th place, and Eleanor Clark finished in 20:19.8 minutes in 22nd place.
“I think every meet we’re just going to keep improving a lot as we gain experience,” Fraley said. “It’s weird in college that you keep switching distances; it throws you off a little bit, but we’re getting into the rhythm of just adapting and being flexible.”
Junior Vera Thompson came in 25th place with a 20:24.4 minute time, and fellow junior Brynn Edison placed 29th in 20:31.9 minutes.
Wamsley described the track as scenic with long stretches through narrow woods trails.
“They had like a whole section that was maybe a mile long and just like a dirt trail through the woods a couple feet wide,” Wamsley said. “It was gorgeous, definitely one of the more pretty courses that I’ve been on.”
Roberts said the dirt trails changed the team’s racing strategy from conserving energy and pacing themselves to starting out strong and getting ahead of the competition early.
“Through the woods on the tighter trails, we run more aggressively and try to get out ahead in the top end of the race instead of racing from the back,” Roberts said. “Then you don’t have to maneuver your way around people and expend all that unnecessary energy.”
The Charger’s victory comes after the team competed in all of the homecoming events together.
“Running in the meets and running everyday together binds you,” Wamsey said. “It’s just nice to do something that’s not the same kind of stress as competing at a meet.”
Roberts agreed that competing in homecoming brought the team closer together.
“We’re kind of like a little family, and homecoming was just a great kind of team bonding,” Roberts said.
After a week off from meets to recover and regroup, the Chargers will compete in the Lewis Crossover in Romeoville, Illinois Oct. 7 against some of the top teams in the NCAA DII such as Ferris State University and Grand Valley State University, before competing in the G-MAC Championships at the end of October.