The Hillsdale College Chargers spanned the country this weekend as they divided up among four meets: the Bryan Clay Invitational, Long Beach State University Invitational, Mt. Sac Relays, and Ashland Alumni Open.
Senior Ally Eads kicked things off Thursday when she ran a season-best time in the 3000 meter steeplechase as part of Azusa Pacific University's distance carnival on Thursday, April 18. She finished in 10:39.04, well below the NCAA Division II provisional standard. She's now ranked first in the G-MAC and ninth in all of NCAA Division II.
Junior Arena Lewis and sophomore Maryssa Depies competed later that night in the 5000 meter run. Lewis finished in 18:07.70 and Depies crossed the finish in 17:32.42.
The Bryan Clay Invitational continued into Friday, when junior Abbie Porter raced in the 800 meter run. In a competitive and aggressive race, Porter finished eighth in her heat in 2:13.05.
Sophomore Kajsa Johansson earned two new personal records in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. In the 100, Johansson placed 29th out of 112 runners and second in her heat with a time of 11.95. Several hours later, she won her heat in the 200 to take 22nd overall. Her time of 24.34 replaces her previous best of 24.69.
Several other Chargers competed this weekend as well in Ashland, Ohio, at the Ashland University Alumni Open. The weather was a little different for the Chargers in Ohio as clouds and mist filled the sky, but as the day went on, the sun began to peak out and temperatures rose.
On Friday, senior Dana Newell earned her second consecutive season-best mark. She took sixth overall in the elite section of the hammer throw with a throw of 55.94 meters.
Coming off two big personal records last weekend, freshman Michaela Burkhauser competed in the elite section of discus on Saturday. She took third overall with a mark of 42.65.
Burkhauser threw shot put as well, coming in fourth with a mark of 12.74 meters. Fellow freshman Nikita Maines threw in the elite section of shot put, taking eighth with 13.43 meters.
Freshman Emma Shea threw javelin. She took seventh overall with a mark of 29.89 meters.
Pole vault and high jump were moved indoors due to the windy weather. Junior Kathryn Bassette vaulted to fourth place with the encouragement of Hillsdale alumna Kayla Caldwell who was vaulting unattached as well. Bassette cleared a height of 3.35 meters. Freshman high jumper Alexie Day jumped 1.62 meters to take third.
On the track, teammates scattered around the track to cheer on junior Kate Vanderstelt as she ran the 3000 meter steeplechase alone. Only one other girl entered to compete, but she scratched, leaving Vanderstelt on her own, but she made the most of it, improving her technique over each barrier. She finished in 11:56.93.
Freshman Alanna O'Leary ran the 400 meter dash. She had a strong start and strong head winds on the back stretch, but finished strong with a time of 59.17 to take third.
In the 800 meter run, sophomore Megan Poole and freshman Amber Mango took third and fifth, respectively. They battled hard to finish their first 800s of the season in 2:23.26 and 2:24.97.
Sophomore Calli Townsend won the 400 meter hurdles. She finished in 1:03.55. Freshman Melanie Boehm came in third in 1:05.93.
The grit displayed in the 5000 meter run came from freshmen Sophia Maeda and Claire McNally, and junior Addison Rauch. McNally ran near the front pack for most of the race to eventually take third overall. Maeda worked her way up throughout the race, finding encouragement from her fellow freshman teammate. She took fourth. The two finished in 18:10.35 and 18:16.84, respectively. Rauch came in seventh in 19:00.19.
Boehm, O'Leary, Poole, and Mango ran the final event of the day: the 4-by-400 meter relay. They took second with a time of 4:07.89.
The Chargers will finish out the season on their home track with the Gina Relays next weekend, and the G-MAC Championship the following weekend.
PHOTO: Todd Lancaster
WORDS: Calli Townsend