The Hillsdale College women's track and field team's throws crew had an impressive winter indoors, with school records, conference honors and an All-American.
As the calendar turns to spring and outdoor competition begins, the Charger throwers aren't easing up.
Hillsdale's throws crew saw a new school record set at this weekend's Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, and recorded three provisional qualifying marks for the NCAA DII Outdoor National Championships in May, to lead a strong showing overall for the Charger track and field team.
The top story of the meet was junior Nikita Maines, who took third in the shot put behind two NCAA Division I competitors and broke her own school record in the event with a throw of 14.99 meters. That mark surpasses the throw of 14.84 meters Maines used to set the Chargers' outdoor record last season.
A three-time national qualifier in the shot put indoors, Maines' mark of 14.99 meters is the second best shot put throw outdoors at the NCAA Division II level currently. It's also still not as far as her indoor school record of 15.16 set earlier this year, a sign that as Maines continues to ramp up outdoors in 2022, this new record may not stand for long.
Close behind Maines in the shot put was teammate Averi Parker, who took fourth with a throw of 14.68 meters. An All-American in the indoor shot put this past winter, Parker's throw is currently the fourth-best in the nation outdoors at the NCAA DII level.
Along with Hillsdale's strong performance in the shot put, sophomore Eden Little won the javelin title for the Chargers on Friday with a season-best throw of 42.23 meters. Little's mark is the 19th best throw in the country at the NCAA DII level, and it is also a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA DII Outdoor National Championships as well.
In the hammer throw, Hillsdale sophomore Katie Weldy threw a personal best mark of 50.57 meters to take fifth overall, with sophomore teammate Katie Sayles taking eighth with a throw of 48.13 meters as well.
The Chargers had a strong day in other field events as well. Junior Alexie Day cleared 1.65 meters to take fourth in the high jump in a new personal best performance, and freshman Reagan Dahlquist was close behind in fifth with a clearance of 1.60 meters. Sophomore Emily Gerdin finished runner-up in the triple jump with a distance of 11.28 meters as well for the Chargers, while Hillsdale freshman Katie Clifford cleared 3.72 meters in the pole vault to take second in the open division and set a new personal best. Freshman teammate Morgan Iverson finished third with a clearance of 3.57 meters.
On the track, the Chargers had several notable finishes. Junior Zalonya Eby won the 400 meter dash in a personal best time of 57.67, beating out several Division I athletes in the process. Teammate Reese Dragovich took fourth in 59.84. In the 400 meter hurdles, Shura Ermakov won in 1:02.94, leading teammates Judith Allison, who took fourth in 1:05.94, and Isabella Gutierrez, who finished fifth in 1:06.79.
Last, but not least, sophomore Louisa Klaserner had a big performance in the 100m hurdles, finishing third in a personal best time of 14.72 against tough competition.
The Chargers will look to build off this performance when they head south next weekend to Cleveland, Tennessee for the Flames Invitational hosted by Lee University. One of the top track and field programs in the South, the competition should be strong and the weather more conducive to fast times on the track than the last two weeks of meets.
Photo by Anthony Lupi