The Hillsdale College men's track team came ready to compete at the University of Findlay Open Saturday afternoon in Ohio.
Sophomore pole vaulter Ben Raffin earned his first NCAA Division II provisional mark of the season, as he won the event and cleared 4.77 meters. Senior Ryan Thomsen neared his best in high jump as well, as he took fourth, jumping 1.93 meters.
Also in the jumps, sophomore John Ethan Baldwin leapt 6.76 meters to take second in long jump, and freshman Josh Nichols finished sixth, jumping 6.21 meters.
In the throws, sophomore Steve Weideman competed in weight throw to take 15th with a mark of 14.77 meters.
On the track, the Chargers got things off to a good start in the 60 meter hurdles. Baldwin took third in 8.27, which is very close to his personal best time. And even closer to his own personal best was senior Ian Brown, who finished fifth in 8.50, just .01 seconds off his PR.
Sophomore Jacob Schmidt sprinted his way to a seventh-place finish in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.19 seconds. He also ran the 200 meter dash, where he finished third in 23.29 seconds.
Schmidt was accompanied by several speedy teammates, as junior Adam Wade finished second with a time of 22.75 seconds, and Brown took fourth in 23.49. Freshman Benu Meintjes came in sixth in 23.63, and fellow freshman Ian Calvert took 10th in 24.00.
Freshmen Sean Hoeft and Isaac Waffle race the mile today. Hoeft's strong last few laps led him to a fourth-place finish in 4:35.12, while Waffle finished in 4:49.16 to take 11th.
And to finish today's meet, the men's 4x4 put together an exciting race. Wade, Meintjes, Calvert, and Baldwin passed the baton around in 3:28.04 to take the victory, just .06 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, University of Indiana East.
Tomorrow the Chargers will host the Charger Opener indoor meet for high school athletes. And on Friday, they'll travel to Youngstown State University for their third meet of the season.
WORDS: Calli Townsend
PHOTO: Kyle Niermann