(Image via Shayne Boyd)
The Hilliard Davidson program ventured out of state this weekend to line-up at one of the highest caliber meets on Michigan's annual calendar, the MSU Spartan Invitational.
In East Lansing, the Wildcats saw much of the top Wolverine state talent plus accomplised entries from a variety of other neighboring states in the respective Elite Division races.
Meet Results
Women's Elite Division I Men's Elite Division
In the women's contest, Davidson came away with the victory scoring 81 points to withstand the challenge of the highly regarded runner-up squad from Holland Ottawa West (MileSplit50 No. 15), who produced a 95-point score on the heels of the top two overall finishers Helen Sachs (1st, 17:15.76) and Arianne Olson (2nd, 17:49.94).
The OATCCC No. 5 ranked Wildcats were anchored up front by top 10 finishes from Caitlyn Jones (5th, 18:41.60) and Dillon Sweetman (10th, 19:02.88). Rounding out their scoring were the trio of Sophie Lane (14th, 19:18.05), Celia Schulte (17th, 19:28.17) and Anna Gagliano (35th, 19:57.55).
To complement the strong overall Ohio showing was Centerville in 6th place (218 points), Dublin Coffman taking 14th (319 points) and Mount Notre Dame occupying the 19th spot (472 points).
Individually, Mia Robillard claimed 8th with her 18:55.8 effort on behalf of the Elks.
Notably, MileSplit50 No. 13 Ann Arbor Pioneer ran to a 5th place finish (200 points), however they were not represented by their full varsity roster.
Race Report by Dillon Sweetman
"Our team was super excited to get to go out and race again at MSU this year. Going into it we had the goal of winning and knew we would be racing against some nationally ranked teams. Given that opportunity, we knew we needed to race hard and put ourselves in position to score well and race hard for one another. We are happy with the win and excited to get back to work and to prepare and improve in upcoming races!"
-- Dillon Sweetman
(Image via Shayne Boyd)
In the men's competition, Davidson leaned on the front running of Connor Ackley en route to their second place finish. The senior earned the individual title with his second sub-15 performance of the season, a personal best 14:56.96 mark.
Junior classman Brody Boyd took 11th (10th scoring spot) in 16:11.81 and Alexander Kafka, Justin Rona and Aaron Egolf contributed to the Wildcats 133 point tally with scoring placements of 30, 44 and 48.
Kafka clocked 16:45.78, Rona went 16:59.16 and Egolf produced a 17:07.57 mark.
In the latest OATCCC poll, Davidson was ranked at No. 4.
The perennial contenders on the Michigan scene from Northville won the race with 104 points. Ohio-based entries Dublin Coffman and Centerville took 6th and 8th place, respectively, with 190 and 232 points.
Individually, Coffman's Liam Shaughnessy recorded a time of 16:04.14 for 10th overall.
Race Report by Brody Boyd
"We had a really solid team performance. We also know there is still room to grow. We are improving every week and trying to close our 2-5 spread. We are working hard, feeling great, and we're excited to compete at the upcoming Chick-Fil-A invitational in Tennessee."
-- Brody Boyd