Sophomore Nikita Maines already had one Hillsdale College school record in the shot put.
On Saturday, she got the one she was missing – and that record-setting performance helped her earn G-MAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week honors for the week of April 19-25.
During the final day of competition on Saturday at the 54th Annual GINA Relays hosted by Hillsdale, Nikita Maines threw a personal best of 14.84 meters, breaking the Hillsdale College school record in the outdoor shot put of 14.55 set by Sara Monteleone in 2006.
Maines has had plenty of experience with breaking records during her time at Hillsdale. As a freshman in 2019, she broke a 26-year old school record in the indoor shot put with a throw of 14.05 meters. She's since reset that mark multiple times, most recently with a throw of 14.77 meters on Feb. 6 at the Hillsdale College Wide Track Classic.
Her throw also puts her in decent position to qualify for her first NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship in the shot put, to go with her two Indoor National qualifications. Maines' throw of 14.84 is 12th best in Division II currently, and the Centralia, Illinois native will get multiple chances to improve on that mark and solidify her spot in the next three weeks, including tomorrow, Friday, as Hillsdale hosts the Outdoor Tune-Up Meet in its final action before the G-MAC Outdoor Championships the next week.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop