There's plenty of unfinished business this winter season for the Hillsdale College women's track and field team and standouts Kajsa Johansson and Nikita Maines.
Both Johansson and Maines parlayed sensational 2019-20 indoor seasons into qualifying berths to the 2020 NCAA Division II National Championships slated to be held in March in Birmingham, Alabama.
But the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled the meet just hours before Johansson and Maines were scheduled to compete, robbing the pair of the chance to aim for All-American status and national championships.
The 2020-21 indoor season provides a new opportunity for the pair to make another run at their goals of competing on a national stage, and it also looks bright for the Charger women's program as a whole. Hillsdale returns almost every scoring contributor from a team that edged Tiffin by less than two points to win the 2020 G-MAC Indoor Championship crown.
Johansson and Maines will help drive the Chargers as potential multi-event winners at the conference level. A senior, Johansson holds four Hillsdale school records in the sprints and has won four G-MAC titles in her career in the 60m dash, 100m dash and 200m dash, while Maines, a junior, holds the program's school record in the indoor shot put and won a G-MAC individual title in the indoor weight throw in 2020.
But it's not just Johansson and Maines that make the Chargers dangerous, as Hillsdale is deep and talented in several events.
In the sprints, the Chargers return several G-MAC placers besides Johansson, including sophomore Dakota Stamm, who finished runner-up in the conference in the 400m dash last year. Stamm is one of four sprinters who helped Hillsdale seal the G-MAC title by winning the 4x400 relay in last year's championship meet, and all four return for the Chargers in 2020-21.
The Chargers are loaded in mid-distance and distance races as well, led by senior Christina Sawyer, who's won back-to-back G-MAC indoor titles in the 5,000m run. Senior Maryssa Depies, who was third in both the mile and the 3,000m run in last year's G-MAC Indoor Championships, and sophomore Gwynne Riley, who took third in the 800m run, help pace a deep crew in those races as well.
Carmen Botha, Jill Roney and Judith Allison all placed in the G-MAC Indoor Championships last year for the Chargers in the 60m hurdles, and all three return this winter, as does Emily Gerdin, who placed in both the long jump and the triple jump for Hillsdale.
In the throws, the Chargers boast not only Maines but Michaela Burkhauser, who placed in both the shot put and the weight throw at last year's G-MAC Indoor Championships.
To bolster an already strong lineup, Hillsdale added a large and decorated freshman class in the offseason, with 14 new faces joining the program. Several are expected to contribute immediately and their development could bolster the Chargers' chances of a repeat G-MAC crown.
The Chargers open the 2020-21 season with a trip to Tiffin University on Friday, Dec. 4 for the Alumni Open. Along with that race, the Chargers have a full slate of meets planned in 2021, including three home indoor competitions. Hillsdale hosts the Sequential Border War, a one-day meet, on Friday, Jan. 22, its annual two-day Wide Track Classic on February 5 and 6, and a Tune-Up meet on Feb. 20, six days before the G-MAC Championships.
Cedarville is the host of the two-day 2021 G-MAC Indoor Championship Meet, beginning on Friday, Feb. 26. The 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships are scheduled for March 12 and 13 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Photo: The 2020-21 Hillsdale College Track and Field Senior Class. Photo by Gwen Buchhop.