September 14, 2012 – If the times at the first meet of the season are any indication, the Hillsdale College men's crosscountry team has already come a long way from a year ago.

Several Chargers easily broke personal record times at Friday afternoon's Spartan Invitational at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing. The meet was the first official meet of the season for the team.

Junior Joshua Mirth posted the top time for the men's team, finishing 17th overall with a mark of 25:16. He sliced 20 seconds off his previous-best 8K time.

Mirth was hardly alone in recording a PR Friday afternoon. Matthew Perkins (25:43) and Luke Hickman (26:09) both knocked more than a minute off their previous-best times. Freshman Paul Ausum ran a 26:36 in his collegiate debut, while John Wierenga made one of the biggest leaps on the team, outperforming his previous best by more than two minutes.

Hillsdale is back in action Sept. 28 a the Notre Dame Invitational.