Hawks Take On Nation's Best

Story by Phil Marshall

The Hagerstown CC Cross Country team traveled to Albuquerque, NM on Saturday to run in the biggest race of their lives. The Men's team placed 40th of 45 teams. HCC stand-out Henry Schmidt had to drop out of the race in the 4th mile after suffering from blurred vision. 

"The altitude got to him," Head Coach Mike Spinnler said. "Medical people brought him to the finish line area but he will be fine."

Saige Vipond finished with a time of (28:55), good enough for 229th out of 343 runners. 

Garrett Kercheval was right behind also with a time of (28:55), finishing 230th

Malik Bagwell-Cook finished at (31:06) in 305th place. 

"Without Henry's normal low score we took a big hit in the rankings," Spinnler said. 

On the women's side, Khelsa Connolly led the Hawks with a time of (21:55), good enough for 151st out of 290 runners. 

India Pack was not far behind with a time of (22:48), finishing in 188th place. 

The Hawks would finish 33rd overall as a team  

"This was such a great experience for our student athletes," Spinnler said. "They represented Hagerstown Community College extremely well."