2017 GLIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship Results
In its final GLIAC track event appearance, the Hillsdale College women's track team earned two championships, and saw three school records broken during the three-day GLIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Grand Valley State University.
Hillsdale finished in third place as a team with 83 points. The host Lakers won the team title with 185.5 points, while Findlay was second with 87.
Another high point to her best season was achieved by senior Alexandra Whitford, who won the conference championship in the pole vault, clearing 3.89 meters. She won the event by .15 meters, putting her at the top spot on the podium after she was the indoor pole vault conference runner-up.
The team's other GLIAC title was won by senior Molly Oren, who kept the 3000 meter steeplechase championship safely ensconced in her family. She won the race in 10:11.69, with an impressive final split of 1:14. Molly continues on a tradition started by her sister Emily, who won the same race in 2016 and 2015 and was the runner-up in 2014.
Sophomore Allysen Eads turned in another excellent performance in the steeplechase, taking third overall with a time of 10:49.63.
The three school records set by the Chargers came from individuals who did not win their events, which illustrates how challenging the GLIAC track championships truly are.
Victoria Wichman has had an incredible outdoor season and added to that by taking second in the 200 and third in the 100 meter dash, shattering records on both occasions.
Wichman broke a 13-year-ol school record in the 200, finishing in 24.28 seconds. The record she broke in the 100 wasn't quite as old, and was actually her own. One week ago, at the Hillsdale College Gina Relays, she broke the record in the 100 by .02 seconds. Her time at GLIACs was even better, 11.88 seconds, breaking her previous record by .09 seconds.
Senior Allison Duber, competing in her final conference meet, was the runner-up in the 400 with a PR time of 54.58 seconds, also a school record. Duber's time was .45 seconds better than the old record, which had stood since 1994, and was the third-oldest record still standing in the Charger women's track record book.
Duber also ran the anchor leg of the second-place 4x400 meter relay team, which finished with a time of 3:47.29, a time that would have set a new GLIAC meet record, but the team lost to Grand Valley State, who won in 3:43.
Other point-scoring finishes earned by Hillsdale:
4x100 relay: 3rd place, 47.13 seconds
Hannah McIntyre: 6th place in the 1500, 4:35.78
Abbie Porter: 6th place, 400 meter dash
Meredith Didier: 7th place, 5000 meter run
Chloe Ohlgren: 5th place, triple jump