The Hillsdale College men's track and field team hosted its largest home indoor event this season, with over 500 athletes descending on the Biermann Center to compete in the annual Wide Track Classic.
Despite tough competition, Hillsdale put up several impressive finishes, led by two event winners.
Sophomore Cass Dobrowolski won the high jump competition for the Chargers with a clearance of 2.03 meters, his best mark of the young season to date, finishing just ahead of teammate Charlie Andrews, who set a new personal best in the high jump of 1.98 meters to take runner-up honors.
The Chargers also got a great showing in the 5K, placing five runners in the top eight. Sophomore Alex Mitchell led the pack for Hillsdale, taking first in 14:58.99, his first time ever going under 15 minutes indoors in the event. Teammate Isaac Waffle also set a personal record of 15:22.60 to take second behind Mitchell, while freshman Nathaniel Osborne just missed breaking the 16 minute mark to finish sixth in 16:00.95.
There were multiple more PRs on the track for Hillsdale. Sophomore Dagur Einarsson ran a 7.02 for the first time in the 60m dash to finish third overall in the event, and sophomore Maliq Brock took fourth in the 200m dash with his fastest-ever indoor 200, in 22.97, with teammate Jacob Schmidt finishing fifth in 23.10.
John Baldwin took third in the 60m hurdles in a time of 8.58, just ahead of teammate Colsen Conway in fourth in 8.60. Conway also teamed with Brock, Waffle and Joseph Ritzer to run on the third-place 4x400 team for the Chargers, finishing in 3:30.59.
In the field, Ben Haas put on another impressive performance in the throws, taking second in the weight throw with a mark of 18.75 meters, and finishing fourth in the shot put with a throw of 14.53 meters. Freshman Connor McCormick also had an impressive personal best in the pole vault, clearing 4.60 meters to finish second behind Charger alumnus and unattached competitor Ben Raffin, and just ahead of another Charger alum, Jared Schipper, in the event.
Alphonso Garcia also placed third for the Chargers in the triple jump as well, with a personal best mark of 13.16 meters.
Hillsdale next travels to Ashland for the two-day Jud Logan Light Giver Open, a big regional event that kicks off the Chargers' final month of preparation for the G-MAC Championships and the NCAA DII Championships to follow.