The Hillsdale College men's track team showcased great depth today at the Findlay Open.
In the 3000m run, freshman Mark Miller and sophomore Jack Shelley tried something new for their season-opener. Neither Miller nor Shelley has competed in the event before, but the two found great success as they took first and second. Miller finished in 8:48.98 and Shelley was right behind in 8:50.86. Junior Alex Oquist wasn't far behind the pair, finishing fourth in 8:54.58. To round out the race for the Chargers, freshman Adam Wier took ninth place in 9:21.01.
Three out of the eight finalist in the 60m hurdles donned a Hillsdale uniform. Leading the way for the Chargers in this race was freshman John Baldwin. He took fourth place in 8.70. Next up was junior Ian Brown who snagged a close fifth place finish in 8.75 seconds. And in seventh place was sophomore Ryan Thomsen with a time of 8.88 seconds.
Hawaii-native freshman Jacob Schmidt returned home for Christmas to enjoy training in great weather and it seemed to pay off in his 60m dash race. He earned a speedy new personal record of 6.99 seconds and took second place in a competitive final.
Seniors Nathan Pando and Levi Wyse placed sixth and ninth, respectively, in the 200m dash. With two tight curves to run on at this Findlay track, the two competed well. Pando finished in 23.24 and Wyse was right behind in 23.52.
Sophomore Adam Wade won the 800m run with a time of 2:00.52. He then teamed up with sophomore Ryan Thomsen and freshmen, John Baldwin and Jacob Schmidt for the 1600m relay. The Chargers took third place with 3:30.85.
New personal records were to be had in the field events as well. In pole vault, freshman Ben Raffin began his college career with a personal best vault of 4.58 meters. Freshman Steve Weideman earned a personal best in the weight throw as well, earning second place in his flight with a distance of 13.57 meters. Freshman Chris Huffman threw for 15.3 meters in the weight throw, just shy of his personal best, earning him seventh place overall. And in long jump, sophomore Ryan Thomsen jumped 6.7 meters to take second place.
The Chargers will compete at home at the Conference Crossover meet on Friday, Jan. 18.
PHOTO: Todd Lancaster
WORDS: Calli Townsend