Hawks XC 2021: Back and ready for the challenge

After last year's 9th place finish at the 2020 NJCAA DI Men's Cross Country Championships in Fort Dodge, IA, the Hawks are looking to qualify a full team at the upcoming championships to be held in Richmond, VA on November 13th.  Hagerstown has competed in two invitational meets to date, the Galen Piper Alumni Open Cross Country Challenge, hosted by Shippensburg University on September 3rd, and the Navy XC Twilight Invitational at the United State Naval Academy on September 10th.

Out of nine teams competing in the 6000 meter Galen Piper Alumni Open, the Hawks placed 3rd with a combined time of 1:40:00 behind first place Dickinson (1:38:31) and second place Shippensburg (1:39:47).  NJCAA 2020 MXC and Half Marathon All American, Zane (Iggy) Chalker,  lead Hagerstown, running the course in 19:33.6, for a 5th place individual finish.  Teammates, Henry Schmidt (19:33.6) and David Butts (19:33.7) finished right behind Chalker, to finish in 6th and 7th place respectively. Trent Overcash placed 16th with a time of 20:14.0, Gabe Conder tied for 38th place with a time of 21:01.9, and freshman, Griffin Knipp (23:09.4), out of Williamsport high school, placed 57th.

For official Galen Piper Alumni Open meet results visit TFRRS 11th Annual Galen Piper XC Challenge . 

On September 10th, running in the Men's 4.9 mile course, at the US Naval Academy XC Twilight, the Hawks (2:11:26) placed 4th out of 7 competing teams behind Navy (2:00:38), UMBC (2:09:16), and Loyola (Md.) (2:10:10).  Leading the Hawks, Schmidt placed 9th with a time of 25:15.1.  Chalker (25:47.2) placed 14th, Overcash (26:15.9) tied for 22nd, Butts (26:54.6) placed 27th, Conder (27:13.7) placed 31st, Ryan Rasco (28:30.6), a freshman out of St. Maria Gorretti high school, placed 40th, and Knipp (29:59.1) rounded out the Hawks in 43rd place out of a finishing field of 69 runners.  Hagerstown freshmen Mario Martinez (21:04.6), out of Frederick high school and Jaron Pearson (23:22.6), out of South Hagerstown high school, ran in the Men's 5K run as well.

"Sixty-four days out from the NJCAA Championships, I am pleased with our performances at the prestigious Naval Academy Invitational," stated head coach, Mike Spinnler.  "I really like where we are fitness-wise, and racing against NCAA D-I competition will help ready us for the (speed and endurance) we will see in November.  We were honored to be the only junior college invited to compete."   When asked about the scope of his team overall, Spinnler added, "Henry Schmidt and Zane Chalker are doing a very nice job of leading us up-front.  Our three-four-five guys, Trent Overcash, David Butts and Gabe Conder, are much improved over 2020. There is still lots of specific sharpening work to be done over the next two months, but the altitude training block (in which they decided to engage) in Colorado earlier this Summer has given them a very strong base to build-upon."

For official US Naval Academy XC Twilight visit TFRRS US Naval Academy Track & Field Meet .

Hagerstown travels to Saint Vincent College on Saturday, September 18th, meet time 10:30 a.m.