The Hillsdale College men's track team made major strides today at the Youngstown State Invitational. Athletes across the track and field earned new personal bests, hit provisional standards, and even broke a school record.
Starting with his school record performance, sophomore John Baldwin improved by .01 seconds in the 60m hurdles to break the record he had once tied. His time of 8.21 seconds matches the NCAA Division II provisional mark and earned him fourth place in a competitive race.
Also improving in the hurdles was senior Ian Brown who finished in sixth in 8.35 seconds, beating his previous record of 8.49 seconds.
Juniors Mark Miller and Jack Shelley kicked off their indoor track season in the mile. Miller fought to stay with the lead pack and went on to earn third place in 4:17.61. Shelley finished in 4:25.44 to take 12th place.
Fellow freshman Ian Calvert put together a competitive race in the 800m dash with a time of 2:02.31.
Freshman Benu Meinjtes had a full day as he started off with the 400 meter dash, finishing ninth (50.05 seconds). He came back to run the 200m dash (23.23), and later ran a part of the 4x400m relay. Sophomore Jacob Schmidt and Brown ran in the 200m dash too. Brown earned another personal record with a time of 23.05.
In the field events, sophomore Ben Raffin continues to improve in pole vault. He attempted to reach a new personal best height, but just missed it to finish second overall with a mark of 4.87 meters. Senior Ryan Thomsen competed in the event as well, and hit 4.27 meters.
Baldwin added to his banner day as he neared his personal best in high jump. He cleared 1.85 meters, good for fifth place in the meet.
Rounding out the night was the 4x400m relay made up of Baldwin, Schmidt, Meintjes, and Shelley. They finished eighth with a time of 3:27.22.
The Chargers will return to their home track next weekend for the Hillsdale Invitational.
WORDS: Calli Townsend
PHOTO: Carly Gouge