"This is our event," declared Chargers women's track coach Andrew Towne four years ago, upon leading his distance medley relay team to a GLIAC championship.
The DMR is still Hillsdale's event.
Playing host to some incredibly talented competition at this weekend's Hillsdale Wide Track Classic, the Charger DMR team finished where it's used to finishing – first.
Although the unit lost the services of multi All-Americans Corinne Zehner and Emily Oren to graduation, the team's strength and depth was evident, as the group of Molly Oren, Fiona Shea, Hannah Watts and Hannah McIntyre burned up the track to the tune of a time of 11:54.32, a new Wide Track Classic record. The team won its event by a whopping 14 seconds over second-place Bellarmine.
The DMR is an event that rewards teams with talent spread among both sprint and distance events. The addition of Shea, a terrific sprinter who has battled injuries throughout her career, is a key ingredient in the team's continued success. A healthy Shea makes the team a strong contender for its third consecutive NCAA championship.
On Saturday's second day, McIntyre out-distanced the competition in the mile run, taking first with a time of 4:56.22. Oren wasn't far behind, taking third with a 4:59.8. Both times were NCAA provo marks.
Victoria Wichman continued her strong indoor season with a win in the 400 meter dash, earning a provo mark with her time of 56.86 seconds.
Another noteworthy performance was turned in by senior Alexandra Whitford, who achieved a personal-best height in the pole vault, clearing 3.85 meters. That mark was good for second place, and was an NCAA provo height.
The throws combo of Rachael Tolsma and Dana Newell again made their mark in the weight throw. Tolsma won a closely contested event, taking first with a throw of 18.35 meters. Newell was just .03 meters behind, placing third.
Two promising freshmen also ran extremely well in the 3000 meter run Friday night. Addison Rauch took third overall with a time of 10:47.5. Rookie teammate Emily Southgate took sixth in the same event, giving Hillsdale much to look forward to with its strong crop of distance runners.