After a nine-month break from the track, the Hillsdale College men's track and field team kicked off the 2020-21 indoor season at the Tiffin University Challenge in Tiffin, Ohio. The Chargers competed against host Tiffin, the University of Findlay, Walsh University, and Ashland University.
The meet was broken into two sections, with field events in the morning and running events in the afternoon.
Hillsdale's highlight for the day came at the end of the meet, when a Chargers 4x400 meter relay team that blended two new faces with two experienced veterans finished off the day with a first-place finish. The team of freshman Jamahl Burke, junior Jacob Schmidt, freshman Sean Fagan, and sophomore Benu Meintjes won the race in in 3:26.44, finishing almost a second ahead of the runner-up team from Findlay.
Along with the relay win, the Chargers also had several strong performances and personal bests in their season-opening meet. In the jumps, sophomore Joshua Nichols took sixth in triple jump and seventh in long jump. His marks of 13.53 meters and 6.23 meters, respectively, put him in a solid spot to start his sophomore campaign. The 15.53-meter triple jump eclipses his previous PR by 33 centimeters.
Fellow sophomore jumper Charlie Andrews finished in a three-way tie for 10th, clearing 1.83 meters in high jump. Junior John Baldwin also competed in the jumps today, as he earned eighth overall in long jump with a mark of 6.17 meters.
Making his comeback after an injury that took away the rest of his indoor season last year, junior pole vaulter Ben Raffin placed second overall with a mark of 4.65 meters.
Junior Steve Weideman and freshman Ethan Perttula finished 13th and 14th, respectively, in the weight throw. Weideman threw for 15.42 meters, which is not too far off of his personal best, and Perttula threw for 14.10 meters.
On the track, freshman Sean Fagan began his college career with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. He crossed the line in 8.37 seconds. Junior Jacob Schmidt also had a fourth place finish for the Chargers, in the 60-meter dash. He finished in 7.06 seconds, not too far off of his PR of 6.98 seconds.
In the mile, senior Mark Miller led the way with a third-place finish in 4:20.65 and senior Morgan Morrison captured sixth in 4:31.40. Freshman Alex Mitchell won his heat in 4:32.34 to place seventh overall, and sophomore Mark Sprague was right behind him in eighth crossing the line in 4:34.81. Sophomore Isaac Waffle earned a new PR in the race as well, finishing in 10th in 4:35.37.
In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Joseph Ritzer took 11th overall in 54.65 seconds, and freshman Jon-Luke Hawk made his college debut by finished 12th in 56.50 seconds.
Hillsdale's athletes will train over break and be back in action in January, starting the Sequential Border War at the Biermann Center on the Hillsdale College campus on Jan. 22, looking to build toward the G-MAC Championship meet hosted by Cedarville University at the end of February.
Written by Calli Townsend.
Photo: Charger sprinters Jacob Schmidt and Benu Meintjes complete the final handoff in the 4x400 relay on Friday. Photo courtesy of Tiffin Athletics.