It's three years later than he anticipated, but Hillsdale College men's track and field senior John Baldwin is making the most of his first G-MAC Outdoor Championships Decathlon competition.
Baldwin, a talented heptathlete who placed highly in the 2021 G-MAC Indoor heptathlon, never got to contest the multis outdoors that year due to the Covid-19 cancellation of the outdoor season, then missed almost all of the next two years with injuries and other health issues.
But now, Baldwin is approaching full strength, and through the halfway mark at the 2023 G-MAC Outdoor Championships decathlon competition on Wednesday, Baldwin has the lead, thanks to a victory in the long jump with a distance of 6.46 meters, and a runner-up finish in the high jump with a clearance of 1.92 meters. His 3,291 points give him a narrow lead over a competitive field, and the senior will look to make the most of that advantage as the decathlon competition wraps up with the final five events on Thursday.
Along with the decathlon competition, Hillsdale also had placers in both throwing events contested on Wednesday at the meet in Ashland. Freshman Ben Haas took sixth in a very competitive weight throw event with a new personal best throw of 59.26 meters, a personal best mark and NCAA DII Provisional Qualifying mark that moved him up to 25th in the nation in the event.
Also, in the javelin, sophomore Cass Dobrowolski also came through for the Chargers with a new personal best in the javelin throw, with a mark of 47.83 meters to take seventh and score points for Hillsdale.
With the first of three days in the books for the Chargers, Hillsdale is currently in sixth place, but only a small fraction of the meet is complete and there's plenty of room for the Chargers to move up with a strong final two days.
The Chargers will be back on track again on Thursday, as Baldwin wraps up the decathlon, and Hillsdale also contests finals in the shot put, long jump, high jump and 3,000m steeplechase. In addition, Thursday also contains preliminaries in all of the running events, with the entire outcome of the meet resting on a strong showing in those races and advancing athletes to the finals on Friday.
Photo by Patrick McGuire