2022 G-MAC Outdoor Track and Field All-Conference Teams
As the NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field Championships kick off this afternoon in Allendale, Michigan, the Hillsdale College women's track and field team received some additional recognition on Thursday.
The Great Midwest Athletic Conference announced its annual awards and all-conference teams for the outdoor track and field season this morning, with several Chargers who helped lead Hillsdale to the G-MAC title in early May making the cut.
Hillsdale brought home two of the five major awards handed out by the G-MAC, as Liz Wamsley was named the G-MAC Women's Freshman Athlete of the Year, and Charger head coach Andrew Towne was honored as the G-MAC Outdoor Track Coach of the Year as well.
Towne, in his 10th season in charge of the Charger women's track and field program, capped a decade of excellence by guiding the Chargers to the second outdoor conference championship and the fifth championship of his tenure between indoor and outdoor seasons. Hillsdale excelled on the final day of the G-MAC Championships in Owensboro, Kentucky to upset defending champion Findlay and claim the G-MAC Outdoor crown for the first time since 2018.
The Chargers are also sending a G-MAC best nine female athletes to the NCAA DII Championship meet this weekend, and set four school records this spring under Towne's guidance.
Wamsley, meanwhile, capped an impressive season that began with a strong showing in cross country in the fall with Freshman of the Year honors. In a senior-laden meet full of experienced and talented competitors, Wamsley's third-place showing in a loaded 10,000m run field stood out, and helped the St. Louis, Missouri native earn her first trip to a national collegiate track and field meet.
The Chargers also had 15 athletes earn All-G-MAC honors for their performance at the G-MAC Championships in early May.
Sophomore Eden Little, the program record-holder in the javelin, earned first-team honors for her G-MAC-title-winning throw at the G-MAC Championships, and she was joined on the first team by the four members of the G-MAC-winning 4x400m relay – junior Zalonya Eby, sophomores Dakota Stamm and Josee Behling, and freshman Reese Dragovich. Eby also won the G-MAC title in the 200m dash, while Dragovich had a top-three finish in the 800m run and Stamm and Behling each placed in the top three in the 400m dash as well.
Seven Chargers made the All-G-MAC second team for placing runner-up at the G-MAC Championships, three of whom are representing the Chargers in those events at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships as well. Junior Nikita Maines, the program record-holder in the shot put, earned second-team honors in that event from the G-MAC, while fellow national meet qualifiers and sophomores Margaret Scheske (3,000 meter steeplechase) and Gwynne Riley (1,500m run) also earned second-team honors.
Sophomore Peyton Panka, who finished runner-up in the javelin, freshman Reagan Dahlquist and junior Alexie Day, who tied for second in the high jump, and sophomore Emily Gerdin, who finished second in the triple jump, all earned second-team honors as well for Hillsdale.
The Chargers had three third-team honorees. Along with Wamsley, who took third in the 10,000m run, sophomore Kaitlyn Rust finished third in the 800m run to earn third-team honors, and sophomore Shura Ermakov took third in the 400m hurdles to make the third team as well.
Hillsdale will look to add to its honors this spring by minting some new All-Americans this weekend at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships hosted by Grand Valley State University. The action kicks off today at 5:25 p.m. with preliminary races in the women's 1,500m run.