The Oakland University men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Fort Wayne for a chance to win gold in the Horizon League Cross Country Championship. On Saturday, Nov. 1, the Oakland men and women ran for a shot at cementing their teams in Horizon League immortality.
The race — an 8K for the men and a 6K for the women — was hosted by Purdue Fort Wayne. Unfortunately, no gold was captured by the Golden Grizzlies, but there were podium results.
The Golden Grizzlies women’s team placed third with 79 points in the championship race, behind Youngstown State in first and just five points behind Purdue Fort Wayne, which finished second.
Freshman Eliza Bush placed fourth overall in 20:59, followed by her senior counterpart in 11th, Haileigh Bissett, who completed the 6K in 21:31.
Hannah DeRoeck (13th, 21:33), Ava Alicandro (22nd, 21:53) and Anne May (29th, 22:11) brought in the rest of the points for the Grizzlies.
The Golden Grizzlies’ third-place finish was accompanied by some awards.
Bush was named to the Horizon League Women’s All-League First Team and was honored as the Women’s Freshman of the Year — incredible achievements to round out an impressive rookie season.
Bissett was named to the Horizon League Women’s All-League Second Team, a fitting end to her senior season and career. DeRoeck, just a freshman, received the nod as well, pointing to a promising career ahead.
The men placed second overall in the championship. Youngstown State captured the sweep by winning the men’s championship as well (54 points), but the Golden Grizzlies finished runner-up with 92 points — their best finish since 2019.
Senior Wesley Hollowell and graduate student Anthony Hancock led the team by finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Hollowell finished in 24:04, and Hancock was just one second behind.
Tristan Brandenburg (14th, 24:31), Carter McCallister (18th, 24:32) and Joe Shaya (45th, 25:13) rounded out Oakland’s scoring five. Their strong performances were just enough to edge out IUPUI, 92–99.
The men’s team left with some hardware as well.
Hollowell was named to the Horizon League First Team. Hancock earned Horizon League All-League Second Team honors.
Head coach Paul Rice, in his 24th season, received the Horizon League’s Men’s Coach of the Year award — a testament to his team’s consistent success throughout the season. Rice will return for his 25th year of coaching the Golden Grizzlies cross country teams.
With Coach Rice at the helm, the Oakland cross country teams should continue to compete at the highest level in the Horizon League.
This year, the men’s team can hang its runner-up performance — the best Horizon League finish that anyone on the roster has seen.
The women’s third-place finish is nothing to scoff at either, and they have a bright future ahead, with a top five that included three freshmen — two of whom received all-league honors.
The Golden Grizzlies’ cross country teams are not done with their season quite yet. Both teams will head to the Great Lakes Regional round in Evansville, Indiana, to continue their postseason on Nov. 14.