Under the direction of first-year head coach Trent Mack, the AU cross country teams pieced together some solid finishes at the GLIAC Championships, hosted by Hillsdale College Nov. 6.

The men’s squad finished second in the meet, a huge improvement over last season when the Eagles finished 10th. Ashland finished with 98 team points behind Grand Valley State, which had 15 points as the conference champion. Wayne State (105 points) and Tiffin (106 points) finished in third and fourth place, respectively.

The AU women placed fifth at the meet, finishing with 111 team points, just four off of fourth-place finisher Hillsdale. Grand Valley won the women’s meet as well with a team score of 18 points. Ferris State was second (83 points) and Wayne State (97 points) was third.

On the men’s side, AU’s best finisher was junior Cameron Johnson, who finished sixth in the meet with a time of 25:12.8. Classmate Brock Weaver was eighth, just eight seconds behind Johnson.

Sophomore Colton Johnson finished 20th at the meet with a time of 26:02.6. Junior Matt Stratman placed 33rd with a time of 26:26.

Sophomore Gary Haglund and freshman Tyler Chancellor finished 40th and 44th, respectively.

Grand Valley State’s Anthony Witt was the meet’s top finisher with a time of 24:47.4. Nine of the top 11 finishers came from that Lakers’ squad. The only two in the top 10 from another school came from Ashland.

Ashland’s top finisher in the women’s meet was sophomore Stephanie Stoffel, who timed out at 21:53.7 and finished the meet in eighth place.

Junior Mandy Farson and senior Leah Allen finished back-to-back in 15th and 16th places, respectively. Farson ran the 6k in 22:32.7, while Allen finished in 22:34.2.

Senior Jessica Daughters placed 30th at the meet with a time of 23:05.6.

Grand Valley State’s Megan Maceratini won the meet with a time of 21:19.8. Six of the top seven finishers in the women’s meet were from Grand Valley.

The Eagles return to the course in two weeks when they will run at the NCAA Regional Championships in Louisville, Ky. Nov. 20.