With the G-MAC Championships just two weeks away, and the NCAA DII Indoor Championships following soon after, the Hillsdale College women's track and field team made the most of its chances to lay down some top marks in several events this weekend.
The Chargers split its squad into two groups, with a handful of athletes traveling to Allendale, Michigan for the GVSU Big Meet on Friday and Saturday, and the majority of the team heading to Tiffin, Ohio on Saturday for the Reggie Cleveland Invitational.
GVSU Big Meet
In a meet that attracts top collegiate runners from across the Midwest, Hillsdale had a few stars shine brightly at the GVSU Big Meet on Friday and Saturday.
Freshman Liz Wamsley continued an excellent first indoor track campaign on Friday, running a 5,000 meter race in 16:54.92, the second-fastest time in the G-MAC this year, the 17th fastest in the nation at the NCAA DII level, and her second NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark of the season, added to her 3,000m provo time the St. Louis, Missouri native ran last week.
Also on Friday, junior Zalonya Eby took 18th in the 200m dash in a time of 25.17, her best mark of the season to date and the third-fastest time in the G-MAC this season. In the 400m dash, freshman Shura Ermakov finished 19th in a season-best time of 57.96, the fifth-fastest time in the G-MAC in that event this year, and fellow freshman Reese Dragovich took 30th in a time of 58.69.
On Saturday, the Chargers improved on another provisional qualifying mark set earlier in the year. Hillsdale's distance medley relay team of Gwynne Riley, Ermakov, Dragovich and Meg Scheske finished eighth in 11:50.09, beating their previous best time by over 10 full seconds and moving the Chargers up to 16th in the national Division II standings in the event.
Reggie Cleveland Invitational
While there were fewer big names in attendance at the meet in Tiffin on Saturday, it proved to be just as fruitful for the Chargers, as two athletes improved on previous provisional marks in field event competitions for Hillsdale.
Freshman Katie Sayles won the weight throw with a distance of 18.09 meters for the Chargers, improving her provisional mark to 17th in Division II in the event. Sayles also took fourth in the shot put with a throw of 13.09m on the day, and teammates Juliet Bernard and Averi Parker took third in the weight throw (17.02 meters) and in the shot put (13.40 meters) respectively.
Meanwhile, in the pole vault, freshman Morgan Iverson had a career-best clearance of 3.75 meters to win the event for Hillsdale, and improve her already-set provisional qualifying mark to 36th in Division II. Teammate Katie Clifford was runner-up in the event with a clearance of 3.60 meters.
Hillsdale's Emily Gerdin won the triple jump as well, in 11.40 meters, in a strong showing in the field events for Hillsdale, and also took fifth in the long jump (5.29 meters). Charger Reagan Dahlquist finished third in the high-jump, matching her collegiate best clearance of 1.67 meters, and teammate Alexie Day finished fourth with a height of 1.62 meters.
On the track, Hillsdale had two first place finishes. Freshman Josee Behilng won the 400m dash in 58.97 seconds, just ahead of teammate Isabella Gutierrez, who finished second in 1:01.46, and freshman Nicole Marshall won the 800m run in 2:23.14.
Gutierrez also took fourth in the 200m dash (26.49) for Hillsdale, Louisa Klaserner finished fourth in the 60m hurdles in a new personal best of 9.06, Abby Scherer took third in the mile (5:18.36) and Kaitlyn Rust finished fourth in the mile (5:19:94) as well.
With the G-MAC Championships in Findlay just around the corner, the Chargers will be home this coming weekend for the Hillsdale Tune-up on Saturday, Feb. 19, looking to take advantage of one final chance to lay down fast times before the championship season begins. A few athletes may also travel to Akron, Ohio to compete in the Campbell Invitational next Friday as well.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan