Men's Cross Country Ben Miles, Coordinator of Athletics Communication | HCAC

HCAC 2025 Cross Country Notebook, Week 1

CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) cross country teams competed in week one of the 2025 season.
 
Around the League:
HCAC Cross Country Schedule
 
Athletes of the Week: 
Men’s Athlete of the Week:
Chris Lynn (Redmond, Wash.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Junior - Led the men's team to a second place team finish at the Sam Bell Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana. Finished 15th overall against Division I teams Indiana University-Bloomington and IU-Indianapolis on the 6k course with a time of 19:18.46.

Women’s Athlete of the Week:
Ella Detjen (Lexington, Ky.) Transylvania University | First Year - Ella made her collegiate debut, earning second at the Berea / Centre Jamboree, running 18:54.3 for 5k. Ella's effort was a bit of a breakout performance given her best mark over the same distance in high school was 20:23.4.

 
Notable Performances:
Men's
  • Taiki Ogawa (Scappoose, Ore.) Berea College | Sophomore – Berea's Taiki Ogawa clocked a 20th-place individual finish with a 5K time of 16:37.8 at the BC/CC Cross Country Jamboree. His strong showing helped Berea secure a 6th-place team finish. Ogawa's 16:37.8 is a lifetime best in the 5K on any terrain.
  • Ethan Rose (Raleigh, N.C.) Earlham College | Senior - Ethan placed third at the Pat Thomas Invitational, running  a personal best 16:59 on Earlham's rugged, challenging course. We was just seconds behind two very good runners from Wilmington College.
Women’s
  • Madison Stonestreet (West Milford, W.V.) Berea College | Senior - Berea’s Madison Stonestreet clocked an impressive 5K time of 18:51.6 to win the individual title at the BC/CC Cross Country Jamboree. Her victory led Berea to a third-place finish in the women’s race.
  • Sara Smith (Mansfield, Ohio) Bluffton University | Sophomore - Sara finished 13th at the Beaver Dam Invite running an almost 2 minute PR with a time of 19:43 from last year on the same course. This put her 4th all-time in school history in the 5k in cross country and became just the 4th woman to break 20 minutes on the XC course over 5k.
  • Cleo Saltz (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) Earlham College | Sophomore – Cleo won the Pat Thomas Invitational by 18 seconds on Friday, setting a course record on the rugged Earlham College course.
  • Brianna Bittel (San Jose, Calif.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Junior - Led the women's team to a fourth place team finish at the Sam Bell Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana. Finished 18th place overall in a time of 15:17.48 on the 4k course against Division I teams Indiana University-Bloomington, IU-Indianapolis, and Ball State University.