The Hillsdale College women's track and field team kicked off the indoor track and field season in impressive fashion on Thursday and Friday at the Findlay Open.
The Charger posted numerous personal bests and recorded four provisional qualifying marks, a strong showing for such an early-season meet.
Leading the way was Hillsdale's throws crew, which posted all four of the team's provisional marks in the meet on Friday, including three provo marks in the weight throw alone.
The top performer was senior Nikita Maines, who kicked off her final indoor season with an impressive win in the weight throw with a mark of 19.32 meters. While not Maines' personal best in the event, it is the best mark she's posted this early in a season, and a strong indicator of how locked in she is for the winter. Maines posted a second provisional mark in the shot put as well, taking second with a throw of 14.43 meters, and should be among the national leaders once the weekend is done.
Two more Chargers athletes earned provisional qualifying marks in a loaded weight throw competition. Sophomore Katie Sayles placed fourth with a throw of 18.09 meters, and just behind was junior Katie Weldy, who earned her first-ever provisional mark in the weight throw with a personal best mark of 17.70 meters to take sixth.
The Chargers picked up two more event victories in the field. Junior Emily Gerdin took first in the triple jump with a mark of 11.19 meters, and also had a solid start in the long jump, placing fourth with a mark of 5.24 meters as well. In the high jump, sophomore Reagan Dahlquist took the title with a clearance of 1.62 meters as well, with fellow sophomore Erika Mogelvang placing fifth in the high jump with a clearance of 1.57 meters as well.
Sophomore Kaylee Jackson placed third in the pole vault for the Chargers with a personal best clearance of 3.55 meters, and sophomore Grace Chen also had a personal best mark of 10.29 meters in the triple jump, placing fifth behind Gerdin.
On the track, the Chargers also recorded several impressive early season times in the meet, led by sophomore Shura Ermakov, who posted personal best times in both the 60m hurdles (9.14) and 200m dash (26.04) to earn runner-up finishes in both events. Hillsdale was well represented in both the 60m hurdles and the 200m dash, with Louisa Klaserner placing fifth in the hurdles in 9.26, and Dakota Stamm taking fourth (26.17) and freshman Eleanor Minning placing fifth in 26.41.
Minning had an impressive debut overall, not only placing in the top five in the 200m dash in her first meet, but also taking runner-up in the 60m dash in an impressive time of 7.83.
Hillsdale's team of Ermakov, Reese Dragovich, Francesa Federici and Stamm also placed second in the 4x400m relay in a time of 3:59.41.
Last, but certainly not least, Hillsdale got a promising showing in the pentathlon on Thursday. Junior Allison Nimtz posted a massive personal best in the five-part multi event by nearly 500 full points, finishing third with a score of 3,082, thanks to a first place finish in the 800m run and a runner-up finish in the shot put. Teammate Neva Polo also posted a best-ever score of 3,039 to finish fifth in the event, with a runner-up finish in the 800m dash her top result.
For most of Hillsdale's athletes, there will be no more competition before Christmas, as the Chargers head into training over the break to build on this initial performance. Hillsdale will next be in action on January 13 in a home tri-meet against G-MAC rivals and fellow track and field powers Findlay and Ashland.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan