Ben Raffin has been a standout in the pole vault for the Hillsdale College men's track and field team since he arrived on campus.
But the junior has never gone as high in the event for the Chargers as he did in Friday's Bill Clinger Classic in Allendale, Michigan.
Raffin cleared 5 meters (16 feet, 4 3/4 inches) in the pole vault for the first time in his career to win the event and earn a provisional qualifying mark to the NCAA Division II national meet.
While Raffin was the only provisional qualifier for the Charger men on Friday, he was one of several strong performances for a young Hillsdale squad that's seeing a strong freshman class emerge as the 2020-21 season matures.
That included freshman Micah Vanderkooi, who captured Hillsdale's other event title in the mile, winning in 4:16.11 in his first collegiate mile just ahead of teammate and senior Mark Miller, who took runner-up honors in 4:17.98.
Freshman Jamahl Burke, a native of Bridgetown, Barbados, also had a strong outing, taking runner-up honors in both the 200m dash (22.45) and 400m dash (49.05) in collegiate bests in both events, and also running a leg on the winning 4x400m relay (3:17.98) for the Chargers, teaming with fellow freshman Sean Fagan, sophomore Benu Meintjes and senior Adam Wade.
Fagan also had a strong day in just his third collegiate meet, taking third in the 60m hurdles (8.37) and fourth in the 400m dash (49.77) for the Chargers, while Meintjes added a third-place finish in the 400m dash (49.50).
In the 800m run, sophomore Ian Calvert set a new personal best for the Chargers to take second place (1:56.84), freshman Alex Mitchell added a fourth-place finish in the 3,000m run (8:42.78) and junior Jacob Schmidt took fourth behind Burke in the 200m dash (22.51).
Along with Raffin in the field events, Hillsdale also got a third place finish from sophomore Joshua Nichols in the long jump (6.15 meters) and a fourth-place finish from Charlie Andrews in the high jump (1.84 meters).
Hillsdale returns home to the Biermann Center for the annual Wide Track Classic on Friday, Feb. 5 for the Chargers' next event.