The Gettysburg College women's cross country team registered another strong season in 2016 while running in the highly-competitive Centennial Conference and NCAA Division III Mideast region.
 
Top Moments:

    -    The Bullets posted their top finish in four years at both the Centennial Conference Championships and the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. The squad finished fifth at the conference meet and 12th out of 51 teams at regionals.
    -    Gettysburg finished third in a field of 41 teams in the "White" race of the prestigious Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University. Amanda Asaro '17 and Elizabeth Hilfrank '18 each broke the top-10 to lead the Bullets, with Asaro placing fourth and Hilfrank taking eighth in the field of 303 harriers.
    -    Gettysburg finished second among Division III schools.The Bullets placed second out of 25 teams at the 28th annual Gettysburg Invitational, where Hilfrank led the way by taking fourth out of 260 runners. Asaro was close behind in sixth.

Leading the Pack: Asaro and Hilfrank made their mark as front-runners for the Bullets once again this season. In each of the seven races in which they competed, one of them finished as the team's top runner and in six of those races, they finished as the squad's top-two. Hilfrank became Gettysburg's first all-region performer since Christine Esposito '13 in 2012 when she placed 20th among 371 runners at the NCAA Mideast Regional while Asaro missed earning all-conference honors by one place when she took 15th at the Centennial Conference Championship. Hilfrank came in 17th at the conference meet, and the pair became the first two Bullets to break the top-20 at the CC Championship since Kerry Campbell '13 and Esposito were 10th and 14th, respectively, in 2010.
 
Bullets Capture Regional Ranking: Late in 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. It was the team's first regional ranking since early in the 2014 season.
 
Talent-Laden Conference: Once again, the competition was fierce within the Centennial Conference this season. Three conference teams finished the year ranked in the final USTFCCCA Division III National Poll, including No. 1 Johns Hopkins University, which would capture the national title.
 
Bullets Run in 36th Little Three Meet: Gettysburg competed in the 36th annual Little Three Women's Cross Country Meet, one of the oldest cross country races of its kind in the region, on Sept. 7. The Bullets defeated host Franklin & Marshall College 15-49, but lost 41-20 to 35th-ranked Dickinson College. Asaro placed third among 54 competitors while Hilfrank was close behind in fifth. 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 51st annual Little Three Meet.
 
Top Times: Asaro clocked the team's fastest time for the season for the 6,000-meter racing distance when she finished in 22:04 at the Centennial Conference Championship. Hilfrank's 22:13 at the same meet was second while a 23:26 from Sarah Rinehart '19 at Paul Short was third.
 
Thank You Seniors: Gettysburg will bid farewell to six seniors who provided the team with talent and leadership over the past four years in Asaro, Elizabeth Johnson '17, Eva Karkuff '17, Claire Martin '17, Gwen Porter '17, and Amanda Wivell '17.
 
Looking Ahead: The Bullets stand to return 16 athletes for the 2017 campaign, including four who regularly scored as one of the team's top-five finishers this past season.
 
Award Winners
NCAA Division III All-Mideast Region
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18
 
Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll
Katie Bell '19
Madison Fox '19
Elizabeth Hilfrank '18
Margot Hoagland '19
Quinn Igram '19
Elizabeth Johnson '17
Eva Karkuff '17
Claire Martin '17
Sarah Rinehart '19
Paige Wesolowski '19
 
Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team
Claire Martin '17