The Hillsdale Chargers had a much fuller squad in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Bellarmine University Invitational. With athletes competing in distance, sprints, jumps, and throws, things are coming together early in the season.
The distance runners kicked things off on Friday. Junior Joey Humes opened his outdoor season with a strong 5k, taking first in 14:43.64.
Sophomore Mark Miller and junior Alex Oquist started their outdoor seasons with a new event: the 3000m steeplechase. Miller took third in 9:35.96, and Oquist came in fifth in 9:57.78.
And in the 10k, freshmen Eric Poth and Adam Wier took seventh and ninth, respectively. Poth finished in 32:48.21, and Wier clocked in at 33:10.19.
In the field events, freshman Kai Panethiere competed in the hammer throw. He took 20th overall with a throw of 38.48 meters.
Senior David Chase competed in shot put, throwing for 11.60 meters to take 20th.
Senior Jared Schipper took first in pole vault, and freshman teammate John Baldwin took third. The two cleared 4.72m and 3.97m, respectively.
Baldwin ran the 110m hurdles as well. He came in second with 15.00 seconds. Junior Ian Brown finished right behind Baldwin with a season-best time of 15.06. Sophomore Ryan Thomsen took ninth in 15.40.
Hillsdale was well-represented in the 400m hurdles. Baldwin finished out his big day with a second-place finish in 55.97 seconds for his first time running the event. Junior David Downey took fourth in 56.83, and freshman Kevin Curby was close behind in fifth, finishing in 58.30.
Sophomore Adam Wade ran the 400m and 200m dashes. He won the 400m in 50.49 seconds, and took eighth in the 200m in 22.71, which is a new personal best.
Also achieving a personal best in the 200m dash was Brown, who came in right behind Wade with 22.74 seconds.
Hillsdale's relay teams showed improvement as well. The 4-by-100m team of freshman Jacob Schmidt, seniors Nathan Pando and Levi Wyse, and Schipper, came in first with 42.53. Although it wasn't a season-best time, they overcame some tough wind and another runner crowding their lane.
In the 4-by-400m, Schmidt, Pando, Wade and Wyse came in third with a season-best of 3:20.57.
The Chargers will travel to the University of Cincinnati next weekend for another opportunity to chase fast times and big marks.
PHOTO: Todd Lancaster
WORDS: Calli Townsend