With championship season looming, the Hillsdale College men's track and field team continued to perform well in the biggest meet of the season to date for the Chargers.
Hillsdale went to Ashland this weekend to compete in the two-day Jud Logan Light Giver Open, a massive meet with top performers from across the Midwest, and came away with several positive results against a tough field.
The biggest performance came from sophomore thrower Ben Haas, who was the top collegiate finisher and third overall in the weight throw with a personal best mark of 19.58 meters. That distance is the ninth best throw at the NCAA Division II level in the event this season, and makes it even more likely that Haas will be making his first-ever trip to the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in March. Hillsdale also had two strong finshers in the high jump, as junior Charlie Andrews cleared 1.95 meters and took sixth, and sophomore Cass Dobrowolski also cleared 1.95 meters and finished seventh in jumps.
On the track, Hillsdale's distance runners put together a solid day, led by junior Mark Sprague, who finished second in the 5,000m run in a personal-best time of 15:07.43. Freshman Seth Jankowski also ran a personal best in the 800m run of 1:54.28 to take fourth for the Chargers, and teammate Sean Hoeft finished eighth in a time of 1:54.80. Sophomore Riche Johnston took seventh in the mile in a time of 4:15.50, and Benu Meintjes took eighth in the 400m dash in a time of 49.33 as well.
Hoeft, Meintjes, Jankowski and Johnston also teamed up for the distance medley relay for the Chargers, placing fourth in the event in a time of 10:11.49.
In the hepthatlon, John Baldwin placed fifth for the Chargers in the seven-part multi-event, winning the 60m hurdles in 8.47.
Hillsdale will compete again next weekend, sending athletes to both the GVSU Big Meet and the Tiffin Open.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan