The Hillsdale College women's track and field team entered the final day of the G-MAC Outdoor Championships on Friday in fifth place as a team, with half the points of leader Findlay.
When the day ended, the Chargers were champions.
Hillsdale, a team with a reputation for pulling off memorable comebacks at conference championships, put together another masterwork to claim the crown, scoring 147.67 points in a single day to run away from the defending champion Oilers for its first outdoor track and field conference title since 2018, its first season in the G-MAC.
Hillsdale, which finished with 179.67 points to Findlay's 160, won three individual G-MAC Championships on the final day to lead the comeback.
Junior sprinter Zalonya Eby ran a personal-best time of 24.20 to add the outdoor 200 meter dash title to the indoor one she won this winter, winning in a NCAA DII Provisional Qualifying time that's the 31st fastest in NCAA DII this season. Eby also took fourth in the 100m dash in 11.93 and finished the meet as the sixth-highest scorer among individuals.
The Chargers also won the final event of the day, the 4x400m relay, to put a cherry on top of the title. Hillsdale's team of Josee Behling, Eby, Dakota Stamm and Reese Dragovich finished in 3:52.42, nearly four full seconds ahead of the runner-up team from Ashland.
Hillsdale's final individual G-MAC title on Friday came in the field, where the Chargers earned a 1-2 finish in the javelin. Sophomore Eden Little won the event with a throw of 41.35 meters, and sophomore Peyton Panka took second for Hillsdale with a throw of 38.28 meters.
But while the Chargers had their fair share of champions, Hillsdale's title was truly a team effort, as numerous placers across all the events helped the Chargers pull away for the title. A few points in every event quickly snowballed for Hillsdale into an unstoppable force, propelling the Chargers to the top of the standings.
Hillsdale had two athletes, junior Alexie Day and freshman Reagan Dahlquist, tie for second place in the high jump, bringing in at total of 12.67 points with matching 1.65 meter clearances, while junior Nikita Maines took runner-up honors in the shot put (14.49m) for the Chargers, with sophomore Katie Sayles taking eighth as well with a personal best throw of 13.33 meters.
Sophomore Emily Gerdin took second in the triple jump as well for Hillsdale, breaking the Charger outdoor school record of 11.78 meters set by Chloe Ohlgren in 2016 with a personal best leap of 11.81 meters.
On the track, Hillsdale placed three runners in multiple events. Dragovich took runner-up in the 800m run (2:16.15), closely followed by sophomore Kaitlyn Rust in third (2:16.70) and freshman Nicole Marshall in fifth (2:19.03). In the 400m hurdles, sophomore Shura Ermakov finished third in 1:03.71, and close behind were sophomore Judith Allison in fifth (1:04.04) and sophomore Isabella Gutierrez in sixth (1:05.45).
The Chargers also had a strong finish in the 400m dash, as sophomore Dakota Stamm earned runner-up honors in 56.32, just ahead of teammate Josee Behling, who took third in a personal best time of 56.62.
Gwynne Riley took second in the 1,500m run in a personal best time of 4:37.16, and the Chargers placed two in the 5,000m run. Freshman Liz Wamsley, who earned G-MAC Freshman of the Meet honors thanks to her combined finish in the 5 and 10Ks, took fourth in 17:17.35, while junior Claire McNally finished eighth in 17:41.08.
Hillsdale also placed twice in the 100m hurdles. Sophomore Louisa Klaserner finished fourth, in 14.52, and Grace Gottwalt took seventh in 15.12.
The title ends a four year stretch of close calls for the Chargers, who finished third at the G-MAC Outdoor Championships in 2019, runner-up in 2021 and missed another opportunity to bring home the title in 2020 with the cancellation of the spring season due to Covid-19.
With the team trophy secured, Hillsdale now turns its focus to the NCAA DII National Championships, hosted by Grand Valley St. University in Allendale, Michigan at the end of May, and getting as many athletes as possible qualified to compete for national championships and All-American honors.
The Chargers will run in two Last Chance meets next weekend, on Friday at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois and on Saturday at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, looking to secure the marks needed to make the national championships in a variety of events.
Photo Courtesy of Kentucky Wesleyan Athletics