USTFCCCA Division II Women's Track National Rankings
The 32 members of the 2015-16 Hillsdale College women's track team will have a neat little fact they can add to their résumés in the future:
Member of the number-one ranked Charger women's track team.
That statement came true for the first time Tuesday afternoon, as the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II poll showed Hillsdale College as ranked No. 1 in the nation. This is the first time the Chargers have earned the top ranking in the NCAA Division II.
Back in the fall, the Charger women's cross country team held the No. 1 ranking for a month. Those are the only two occasions when any Hillsdale College athletic team has ever been ranked No. 1 in any NCAA Division II poll.
This year's women's indoor track team is loaded with talent, experience and drive. Much of that was born last season, when the team got better and better, culminating with its runner-up finish at the 2015 NCAA Division II championships. The distance medley relay team won a national championship, and distance runner Kristina Galat was the national runner-up in two events. Emily Oren won her first individual national championship, winning the 3000 meter run at that same meet.
Much of the talent that got the Chargers national runner-up status a year ago has returned, and that talent isn't content with last year's accomplishments. In addition to the assortment of distance runners who put Hillsdale near the top - Emily and Molly Oren, Hannah McIntyre, Kate Royer and Galat among others - several record-setting sprint and field event athletes add to the number of athletes who rank among the nation's best.
Senior captain Corinne Zehner holds both school records in the hurdles, and was a part of the championship-winning DMR team a year ago. Freshman Kristin Freeman is ranked 6th in the high jump nationally, while Dana Newell is 8th in the weight throw.
In head coach Andrew Towne's first season in charge of the women's program - 2011-12 - he guided Amanda Putt to three national championships betwene indoor and outdoor track, a first in program history. He led the Chargers to No. 2 finishes at the 2014 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships as well as the 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor Track Championships. The women's cross country team was ranked first earlier this fall, and now the women's indoor track team carries the No. 1 distinction.
Just three meets remain in the 2015-16 indoor season, starting with this weekend's Hillsdale Tune Up, hosted by the Chargers in the Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center.
On Feb. 27-28, the team heads to Tiffin, Ohio for the 2016 GLIAC Championships.
On March 11-12, the team heads to Pittsburg, Kansas to take its shot at a national championship.