CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) cross country teams competed in week one of the 2025 season. Freshman, Ella Detjen raced to beat her previous 5K time by nearly two minutes in her collegiate debut. Detjin placed second overall at the Berea / Centre Jamboree with a time of 18:54.3.
 
 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.

Around the League:
HCAC Cross Country Schedule