The Hillsdale College men's cross country team took to the course on Saturday in Muskegon for the Jayhawk Collegiate Invitational, with several personal bests ahead of the G-MAC Championships in two weeks.

With G-MACs close, Hillsdale rested several of its veteran runners from Saturday's 8K race, putting the spotlight on the Chargers underclassmen as Hillsdale took fifth in a 13-team race.

Three freshmen led the way for Hillsdale, all of whom ran personal bests at the 8K distance. Freshman Zach Self finished 23rd in 26:12.43, and fellow first-year runner Thomas Holm was right behind in 25th in 26:17.90. Freshman Will Winsor placed 29th as well in 26:25.02, while junior Emil Schleuter placed 32nd in a personal best 26:30.42 and Caleb Bigler took 37th in a personal best 26:38.48 to round out a strong scoring pack for Hillsdale.

Freshman Daniel Johnson also placed 49th (27:02.32) for the Chargers, and sophomore Rhys Wodard took 52nd (27:05.26). 

The Chargers take the next weekend off as Hillsdale turns its focus to the G-MAC Championships, which will be hosted in Hillsdale on Oct. 26. The men will race at 11:30 a.m. looking to better last season's sixth place finish in the conference.

Photo by Elaine Kutas