The Hillsdale College women's track and field team kicked off the outdoor season in style at Saturday's Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open in Cedarville, Ohio, as two titles in the throws paced a solid all-around performance for the Chargers.
Junior Eden Little picked up where she left off last season in the javelin, capturing the title in her first collegiate competition in 2023 with a throw of 39.32 meters, nearly four meters further than her next closest competitor. Senior Nikita Maines also won a title for the Chargers in the shot put, taking first with a throw of 13.09 meters, and Hillsdale placed two in the hammer throw, led by sophomore Averi Parker's personal best mark of 51.56 meters. Katie Weldy took sixth for the Chargers in the hammer with a throw of 49.54 meters, and sophomore Mackenzie Morrison also placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 39.92 meters.
While Hillsdale excelled in the throws on Saturday, it was just one aspect of a strong start overall for the Chargers. Sophomore Grace Chen placed in both the long jump and triple jump, taking third in the triple jump with a mark of 9.78 meters and eighth in the long jump with a mark of 4.77 meters. Freshman Tara Townsend also took sixth in her first outdoor collegiate pole vault, clearing 3.45 meters.
On the track, junior Louisa Klaserner and freshman Eleanor Minning each placed in multiple events for Hillsdale. Klaserner took third in the 100m hurdles in a solid season-opening time of 15.09 meters, and also placed second in the 400m hurdles in a time of 1:10.23. Minning, competing outdoors for the first time in her collegiate career, took an impressive fourth in the 100m dash (12.65) and sixth in the 200m dash (26.16), while sophomore Nicole Marshall also took runner-up in the 800m run (2:25.82) for the Chargers.
Hillsdale's next competition will be this coming Friday and Saturday, when Hillsdale attends the VertKlasse Meeting in High Point, North Carolina. Several athletes that competed this weekend for the Chargers will be in attendance, while more will make their outdoor debuts in the two-day invitational that will include several NCAA Division I schools.