Women’s Cross Country Team Makes Hillsdale College History

December 6th, 2014 – Louisville, Kentucky

On Saturday, December 6th, 2014, the Charger women’s cross country team made Hillsdale College history when they took second place at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, hosted at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Hillsdale’s team finished with a score of 115, second only to GLIAC rival Grand Valley State. Hillsdale’s finish is the highest finish by any athletic program in the College’s Division II history; the previous record was held by the 2011 Charger women’s volleyball team who ended their season ranked fifth nationally.

The Hillsdale College Women’s cross country Team, from left to right, top to bottom: Assistant Coach Joe Lynn, Melissa Bott, Katie Mersereau, Maddie Richards, Chelsea Kilgore, Emily Oren, Molly Oren, Amy Kerst, Amanda Reagle, Andrea Bodary, Head Coach Andy Towne, Shena Albaugh, Katie VanEgmond, Kate Royer, Sarah Johnson, Hannah McIntyre, Meredith Didier

In addition to the impressive performance of the entire team, several Charger runners also made noteworthy personal achievements at the event. Junior Kristina Galat finished 5th overall, the highest individual finish by any Charger woman at the NCAA Division II national cross country meet. Junior Emily Oren, who won the regional cross country championship in November, finished 9th overall. Her sister, sophomore Molly Oren, logged a personal best time of 21:50, taking 18th overall. Freshman Hannah McIntyre placed 19th, becoming the first freshman NCAA Division II All-American in Hillsdale College history. The aforementioned runners also earned All-American status.

Coach Andrew Towne says of the event, “This was a tremendous effort by the team, just unbelievable. This achievement has its roots in the tradition coaches Diane Philipp and Bill Lundberg built for the program here a decade ago. We set an aggressive goal to become a consistent podium team, and we’ve achieved that. To go from 13th in your region to ranking within the top four in the nation – I don’t know anyone who has done it as quickly as we have.”

Source: HillsdaleChargers.com