Sophomore John Baldwin has another school record to boast after competing in the heptathlon at the Wide Track Classic. Schools from across the country and Canada came to Hillsdale on Friday and Saturday to compete in this annual meet.
Baldwin's score of 5040 points was not only a school record, but an NCAA Division II provisional mark as well. He won the event handily and beat the record by 39 points. His teammate and previous record holder senior Ryan Thomsen placed second, also with an NCAA provo mark, racking up 4951 points.
In the 60m hurdles, senior Ian Brown raced against some tough competition, which was a great help in pushing him to a new PR of 8.30 seconds. He finished third in the event.
In the 200m dash, freshman Joseph Ritzer ran a PR of 24.78 seconds to finish 36th.
Fellow freshman teammate Ian Calvert also earned a PR in the 800m championship race. He broke the 2-minute barrier to win his heat in a time of 1:58.49. Freshman Sean Hoeft finished right behind him in 1:59.16. The two finished second and fourth, respectively, overall.
In the 3000m run, senior Charles Holbrook finished 14th in his heat with a time of 9:42.75.
Sophomore Adam Wier won the 5000m run in 15:36.20. Freshman Mark Sprague finished seventh in that race in 16:15.87.
In the field events, sophomore Will Syrus long jumped 6.55 meters to finish eighth, and freshman Josh Nichols took 20th with a mark of 5.78 meters. The pair competed in triple jump as well. Nichols tied for second with a jump of 13.19. Syrus took ninth with 11.85 meters.
Freshman jumper Charlie Andrews cleared 1.89 meters in high jump to take fourth, and sophomore Steve Weideman finished 13th in weight throw with a mark of 14.71 meters.
The 4-by-400m relay finished out the weekend's races with a team of Ritzer, freshman Benu Miejntes, senior David Downey, and junior Adam Wade. They finished in 3:33.05
The Chargers have a couple more meets to compete in before gearing up for the G-MAC Championship.
WORDS: Calli Townsend
PHOTO: Christine Siddall