In its last chance to make an impression before the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships qualifiers are announced on Tuesday, the Hillsdale College women's track and field team's 4x400 meter relay team made a huge one at the Harrison Dillard Twilight Classic on Friday at Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio.
The Chargers' foursome of sophomore Shura Ermakov, sophomore Josee Behling, sophomore Dakota Stamm and junior Zalonya Eby entered Friday's meet with the 13th best time at the NCAA DII level, and likely already safely in the Outdoor Championships field. But Hillsdale's 4x400m victory on Friday not only all but clinched their spot, it broke a school record in the event that was set in 2016 by another team of All-Americans.
Hillsdale's winning time of 3:42.67 is the ninth-fastest time in the nation in the NCAA DII ranks, and ranks sixth when removing other school's B teams. It's over half a second faster than the program's previous outdoor record of 3:43.23 set by the team of Corrine Zehner, Victoria Wichman, Sarah Benson and Allison Duber that took eighth and earned All-American honors at the 2016 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships held at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The Chargers' 2022 record-breaking team has its own All-American pedigree, as both Ermakov and Stamm were on the Chargers' national runner-up 4x400m relay team at the 2021 NCAA DII Indoor Championships, and that pair plus Eby also earned All-American honors in the 4x400m relay at the 2021 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships as well. Behling is the only member of the squad without an All-American honor to her name, but the sophomore's rapid improvement this season, including going under 57 seconds in an open 400m dash for the first time, has made her an indispensible part of the team's quest for back-to-back All-American honors in the event outdoors.
Two throwers also competed for Hillsdale at the Twilight Classic on Friday. Eden Little, fresh off breaking her own school record in the javelin at Grand Valley State on Tuesday, won the javelin on Friday with a throw of 43.40 meters, while freshman Averi Parker took eighth in the shot put with a throw of 12.97 meters as well.
One more athlete competed this weekend for the Charger women's track and field team, as sophomore Gwynne Riley traveled to Cleveland, Tennessee to run in the Lee Last Chance Meet.
Competing in the 1,500m run, Riley ran a near-10 second personal best in the race to finish sixth in a loaded field and achieve her first NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in the event. Riley's time in the 1,500m run is currently the 30th fastest in the nation at the NCAA Division II level.
The Chargers will find out what athletes are joining its 4x400m Relay team at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships on Tuesday, May 17 at 6 p.m. when the field is announced on NCAA.com. Hillsdale is expected to have several athletes who will earn a bid to the meet, which is scheduled to take place on May 26-28 at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
Photo Courtesy of Kentucky Wesleyan Athletics