The men’s cross country team on media day. Courtesy: Hillsdale Athletic Department
The Hillsdale men’s cross country team placed 13th and the women placed 23rd at the Louisville Classic Oct. 4.
Leading the Charger men, senior Gabe Phillips smashed his own personal record for an 8k race to earn 10th place with a time of 23:54.2.
“Gabe’s race was one of the better cross country performances in school history, if not the fastest,” head coach R.P. White said.
Phillips said his race was emotional.
“There was this idea in my head, like, ‘God, let me do this for the underdogs,’” Phillips said. “I knew that, without a doubt, if you want something and you work hard enough, you can achieve it. That thought went through my head and just gave me this burst of motivation.”
Phillips said conviction kept him going.
“That last mile I was pretty much going lactic it felt like, and so I was just holding on for dear life telling myself, ‘OK, I just got to keep going,’” Phillips said.
Not only did Phillips set a personal record, but so did every other scoring runner on the men’s team.
Senior Nathaniel Osborne finished 75th in a time of 25:04.0. Junior Caleb Youngstedt placed 97th in 25:19.3, followed by freshman John Richardson, who took 103rd place with a time of 25:20.1. Freshman Jefferson Regitz was Hillsdale’s final scoring runner, crossing the line in 25:46.5 and taking 169th place.
On the women’s side, sophomore Ally Kuzma set a new personal record of 17:04.1 and took 12th place in the 5k race. Junior Eleanor Clark also set a personal record, placing 135th with a time of 18:35.2. Freshman Grace Tykocki was Hillsdale’s third scoring runner, placing 171st in 19:05.0. Sophomore Victoria Stonebraker placed 220th in 19:34.1, followed by freshman Caroline Roberts, who finished in 225th place with a time of 19:37.7.
Phillips said both the men’s and women’s teams approached this race with an aggressive strategy.
“We wanted to get out really hard for the first two minutes and be uncomfortable, and then settle in and then try to recollect ourselves and finish well,” Phillips said.
Clark said the right mental approach is vital, especially when confronting intense competition and aggressive race strategy.
“I think being able to control your emotions and stress is huge,” Clark said. “Coach does a great job of emphasizing gratitude, just being grateful for the opportunity to race. Channeling that can be helpful to your mindset, just being excited for every race and ready to see what you can do for yourself and your team.”
Looking forward to conference championships, White doubled down on this attitude of gratitude.
“When it comes to opportunities to race, you always respect competition and you don’t take it for granted,” White said. “So really, conference will be no different than any other race. It’s literally just, let’s see what we’re made of.”
The Chargers will race at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championships Oct. 25 in Midland, Michigan.
