A young group of Hillsdale College Chargers competed for a third-place finish in the 2019 G-MAC Championship meet in Findlay, Ohio. They finished with 99.5 points, while Walsh University took second with 103, and G-MAC newcomer Tiffin University captured first with 188.5 points.
Sophomore Christina Sawyer started the weekend off with an exciting victory in the 5000m run. She finished in 17:48.74, beating the 2018 G-MAC cross country champion from Walsh. Following right behind Sawyer were sophomore Lauren Peterson and junior Addison Rauch. They took sixth and eighth, respectively. Peterson completed the 25 laps in 18:24.64, and Rauch finished in 18:43.08.
In Friday's weight throw competition freshman Michaela Burkhauser finished in seventh to pick up a couple points. She threw for 14.87 meters.
Hillsdale's distance medley relay finished in fifth. Junior Kate Vanderstelt, sophomore Megan Poole, and freshmen Claire McNally and Amber Mango passed the baton along in 12:59.87.
On Saturday, freshman Alexie Day got things started for the Chargers with a third-place finish in high jump. She tied her personal best of 1.63 meters.
Kajsa Johansson put together two excellent races in the 60m and 200m dashes to be crowned the G-MAC Freshman of the Meet. She earned first in the 60m and second in the 200m. Her time of 7.65 seconds in the 60m dash was not only an NCAA Division II provisional mark, but she also broke Hillsdale's 15-year old record of 7.70. She tied her personal best of 25.23 seconds in the 200m dash, but on a track as narrow as Findlay's, her time would convert to 24.46.
Senior Allysen Eads led the way the Chargers in the mile. She earned second place with a time of 4:57.77. She was accompanied by Mango in the mile, who finished eighth in 5:19.95. Sawyer and Rauch came back to run the mile as well, finishing in ninth and 12th, respectively.
In a competitive 800m race, sophomore Abbie Porter finished second in 2:16.64. The top five finishers were within one second of each other. Sophomore Calli Townsend finished in eighth in 2:20.81.
The Chargers were strong in the 3000m run as they took three of the top five places. Sophomore Maryssa Depies finished in 10:06.79 to take second, while junior Arena Lewis took third in 10:08.39. Eads bounced back after racing the mile to finish fifth in 10:15.55.
Hillsdale racked up quite a few more points in the field events, led by freshman Nikita Maines, who continues to break her own shot put record. She earned third place on Saturday, throwing for 14.23 meters, which eclipses her old record of 14.09.
Junior Kathryn Bassette vaulted to a fourth place finish, clearing 3.44 meters. In triple jump, junior Dani Jones snagged seventh with a jump of 10.38 meters.
The 4-by-400m relay team captured third place to finish the meet. Freshmen Melanie Boehm and Alanna O'Leary teamed up with Porter and Townsend to finish in 4:00.57.
WORDS: Calli Townsend