Led by a pair of outstanding performers, the Gettysburg College women's cross country team turned in a strong season while running in the highly-competitive Centennial Conference and Mideast region under eighth-year head coach Aubrey Shenk.
 
Top Moments:

• Elizabeth Hilfrank '18 and Sarah Rinehart '19 posted a tremendous showing at the NCAA Division III Championships, held at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. Hilfrank became the third All-American in program history and the first in 36 years, placing 40th out of 279 runners with a school-record time of 21:37. Rinehart came in 74th with a personal record (PR) of 22:02.
• The Bullets registered their top finish in five years at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional, coming in 10th among 45 teams. Hilfrank and Rinehart each qualified for the NCAA Championships while claiming all-region honors with their top-35 performances. Hilfrank placed 10th in the field of 351 while Rinehart was 20th.
• Gettysburg served as the host site of the Centennial Conference (CC) Championships, where both Hilfrank and Rinehart captured All-CC recognition. Hilfrank earned first-team all-conference honors with her fourth-place finish while Rinehart gained second-team laurels with her 12th-place showing.

 
Leading the Pack: Hilfrank turned in one of the top seasons in school history by a Gettysburg women's cross country runner. Prior to championship season, she started the year with six outstanding races, capped by consecutive victories at the Delaware Valley Invitational, the "White" race of the Paul Short Run, and the Gettysburg Invitational. She went on to become Gettysburg's first All-Centennial Conference performer since 2009, and her fourth-place finish at the conference meet ranks in a tie for second-best in school history behind only Jaimie Bagatti's '04 third-place performance in 2003. Hilfrank then captured all-region honors for the second year in a row with her 10th-place finish – the highest by a Bullet since 2009 – before claiming the final All-America spot at nationals with a 15-second PR. Hilfrank became Gettysburg's first women's cross country All-American since Martha Orem '84 was 25th at nationals in 1981.
 
Rinehart Ends With a Bang: Rinehart also registered a tremendous 2017 campaign, capped by an incredible surge in which she clocked a PR in five straight races to end the season. It started with her 11th-place finish at the Paul Short Run, where she was timed at 23:01, and continued with her sixth-place showing at the Gettysburg Invitational in 22:50. Her improvement continued at the Centennial Conference Championship (22:43) and the NCAA regional meet (22:40), but she saved her best for last, slashing 40 seconds from her PR at the NCAA Championships.
 
Two of a Kind: Hilfrank and Rinehart became the first two Bullets in program history to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships as individuals in the same year. Gettysburg sent multiple competitors to nationals only once before – when the 1987 squad qualified as a team. Hilfrank and Rinehart were also Gettysburg's first representatives at NCAAs since Kerrin Epstein '10 was 54th in 2009.
 
Top Times: As previously mentioned, Hilfrank's time of 21:37 at the NCAA Division III Championships is a school record for the 6,000-meter racing distance. Hilfrank also registered the fifth-fastest time in Gettysburg history (21:52) at the Paul Short Run and the sixth-best mark (21:55) at the Centennial Conference Championships. In addition, Rinehart posted the seventh-best time in school history (22:02) with her performance at the NCAA Championships.
 
Fast Start: Michelle O'Malley '21 enjoyed a strong freshman campaign for the Bullets, and her time of 23:14 at the Paul Short Run marked the fastest time by a Gettysburg first-year since Hilfrank ran 22:58 in 2014.
 
Bullets Capture Regional Ranking: Midway through the season, the Bullets earned a spot in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Mideast Region rankings when they were slotted 10th. The ranking came days after the Bullets finished second out of 32 teams at the Paul Short Run, where they defeated multiple Division II teams.
 
Talent-Laden Conference: Once again, the competition was fierce within the Centennial Conference this season. Three conference teams (No. 1 Johns Hopkins, No. 24 Haverford, No. 31 Dickinson) finished the year ranked in the final USTFCCCA Division III National Poll while a fourth (Swarthmore) was regionally-ranked. Johns Hopkins defended its national title at the NCAA Division III Championships.
 
Bullets Run in 37th Little Three Meet: Gettysburg competed in the 37th annual Little Three Women's Cross Country Meet, one of the oldest cross country races of its kind in the region, on Sept. 8. The Bullets defeated Franklin & Marshall College 17-44, but lost 43-18 to 24th-ranked Dickinson College. Hilfrank placed third among 58 runners while Rinehart placed sixth. The meet rotates between Gettysburg, Dickinson, and F&M and a women's race has been held continuously every year among the same three schools since 1981. This year's men's race marked the 52nd annual Little Three Meet.
 
Thank You Seniors: Gettysburg will bid farewell to three seniors in Hilfrank, Mary Casey '18, and Alyra Parker '18.
 
Looking Ahead: The Bullets stand to return 16 athletes for the 2018 campaign, including four who regularly scored as one of the team's top-five finishers this past season. Rinehart and O'Malley scored in all eight of their races prior to NCAAs while Colleeen Campbell '19 and Paige Wesolowski '19 broke the top-five in seven and five meets, respectively.
 
Award Winners
NCAA Division III All-American
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18
 
NCAA Division III All-Mideast Region
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18
Sarah Rinehart '19
 
All-Centennial Conference
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18 (First Team)
Sarah Rinehart '19 (Second Team)
 
Academic All-Centennial Conference
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18
Sarah Rinehart '19
 
Centennial Conference Runner of the Week
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18 (9/25/17)
 
Centennial Conference Women's XC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18
 
Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll
Colleen Campbell '19
Mary Casey '18
Madison Fox '19
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18
Abby Hines '20
Sarah Rinehart '19
 
Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team
Alyra Parker '18