Big performances in the distance events and in the field against tough competition highlighted the Hillsdale College Women's Track and Field team's day as the Chargers hit the road for the first time in 2022.
Hillsdale traveled to Ashland for the Jud Logan Light Giver Open, winning three events and placing with personal bests in several more.
Hillsdale got two standout performances in the distance races. Freshman Liz Wamsley, racing in the first indoor 3,000 meter run of her collegiate career, took fourth in a close race and ran a time of 9:44.87, more than 10 seconds under the provisional qualifying mark in the event and the 18th fastest time in NCAA Division II so far this season.
Along with Wamsley, Hillsdale's distance medley relay team of Gwynne Riley, Josee Behling, Reese Dragovich and Margaret Scheske also stood out. The Charger foursome ran away with the race to win the event in 12:01.44, well under the provisionaly qualifying mark in the event. Hillsdale's team has the 16th fastest time in the DMR to date in NCAA Division II with today's performance.
The Chargers also had a strong day in the field. Junior Nikita Maines won the weight throw with a new personal best of 18.99 meters, extending her provisional qualifying mark set earlier this season and inching closer to the school record of 19.08 meters in the event held by Dana Newell. Maines also took third in the shot put with a throw of 14.37 meters, and teammate Katie Sayles also placed in both events, taking fourth in the weight throw (17.90 meters) and eighth in the shot put (12.77 meters).
In the jumps, sophomore Emily Gerdin won the triple jump with a season-best distance of 11.53 meters, and took ninth in the long jump with a distance of 5.04 meters, while freshman Reagan Dahlquist took third in the high jump with a clearance of 1.65 meters. Pole vaulters Katie Clifford and Morgan Iverson took seventh and ninth, respectively, for Hillsdale, clearing 3.70 meters to extend their provisional qualifying mark set earlier this season by a centimeter.
Back on the track, freshman Nicole Marshall ran a collegiate personal best of 2:17.49 to take eighth in the 800m run, just ahead of Rust, who took ninth in 2:17.58. Freshman Shura Ermakov placed fifth in the 400m dash (58.15), just ahead of Dragovich, who finished seventh in 58.62, a new collegiate personal best in the open 400.
Dakota Stamm placed sixth in the 200m dash (25.58) for the Chargers, and Hillsdale had two runners place in the 60 meter hurdles, with Louisa Klaserner taking seventh (9.16) and Judith Allison finishing eighth (9.31).
The Chargers will split their squads next week, with athletes traveling to the GVSU Big Meet on Friday, and the Tiffin Dragon Invitational on Saturday, as the G-MAC Championships fast approach.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan