Sophomore Ben Raffin entered the 2020-21 season having never made an NCAA Division II National Championship meet for the Hillsdale College men's track and field team.
Raffin exits it an All-American -- not once, but twice.
The Chesterton, Indiana native capped a breakthrough season in the pole vault for the Chargers at the NCAA DII Outdoor National meet this weekend at Grand Valley St. University in Allendale, Michigan, placing eighth in the pole vault to earn All-American status in the event, and add to the All-American honors he received in the event at the Indoor National Championships in March.
The 13th and final competitor to qualify for the event this season, Raffin was an underdog coming in, just as he was at the indoor meet in Birmingham, Alabama. But Raffin overcame an early miss at the starting height of 4.85 meters (15 feet, 11 inches) to clear both that height and the next height of five meters even (16 feet, 4 and three-quarters inches) to secure his spot in a four-way tie for the final two All-American spots. Because Raffin was able to clear the five meter bar on his first attempt, he edged out Austin Parrish and Dorian Chaigneau of Harding with fewer misses to secure eight place and the final All-American honor.
Raffin took a similar path to All-American honors at the Indoor National meet in March. Seeded outside the top eight, the sophomore cleared 4.97 meters to finish seventh.
As a two-time All-American in 2021, Raffin becomes the first Charger men's track and field athlete to earn All-American honors both indoors and outdoors in the same school year since Caleb Gatchell earned All-American honors in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500m run in 2017. He also follows in the footsteps of former teammate Jared Schipper, a three-time All-American in the pole vault both indoor and outdoor from 2015 to 2019.
Raffin has one more year of indoor eligiblity and two more years of outdoor eligibility remaining and will return next season, looking to build off a personal-best year and add more hardware to this season's accomplishments.
Photo Courtesy of Jordan Menard