NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championship Home Page
In just two years of indoor track at Hillsdale College, both sprinter Kajsa Johansson and thrower Nikita Maines have made history for the Charger women's track and field team.
Now, both will get an opportunity to represent the Chargers on a national stage.
On Tuesday, both Johansson and Maines were selected as provisional qualifiers to compete at the 2020 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field national meet on March 13 and 14 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Johansson is one of 20 women competing in the 200 meter dash, with her GMAC-title winning performance (24.39) last weekend, Saturday, Feb. 29, in that event securing a spot in the field.
Maines, meanwhile, earned a spot in women's shot put, with a throw of 14.53 meters (47 feet, eight inches) at the GVSU Holiday Open on Dec. 6, 2019 making her one of 17 women traveling to Birmingham to compete in that event.
Those performances both set new Hillsdale College women's indoor track records in those events.
Johansson's title-winning 200 meter performance broke a 15-year old Charger indoor record in the event set by DiOnna Williams in 2005, adding to the 60 meter record Johansson already holds and one that she also reset at the GMAC Indoor Championships, lowering it by .04 seconds to 7.61.
Maines, meanwhile, broke her own indoor shot put record with that throw at Grand Valley St. in December, part of a season where the sophomore also captured the GMAC women's weight throw title with a throw of 17.70 meters.
Combined with her outdoor marks, Johansson has won four G-MAC championships in her time at Hillsdale, and holds four program records, including the marks in the 100 and 200 dash as well as her indoor records.
Along with finding out that they'll be going to the national championships next week, Johansson and Maines also earned All-Region honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday, receiving recognition for their excellence in the events that they're qualified to compete in next week in Birmingham.
Johansson will compete on Friday in Birmingham, running in the 200 meter dash prelims at approximately 7:20 p.m.
If she's able to make it through to the final, Johansson will run again on Saturday at 7:40 p.m. with a national championship and All-American honors at stake.
Maines, meanwhile, will compete in the shot put beginning on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. looking to contend for All-American honors herself.
Charger track fans can watch a live stream of the event and see Johansson and Maines compete at NCAA.com/video.
Photo: MaryKate Drews