Championship season in indoor track and field is right around the corner, and the Hillsdale women are showing they're ready after a strong weekend of competition at both the GVSU Big Meet and the Tiffin Open.
The Chargers' distance crew excelled on Saturday in the big meet hosted by Grand Valley State University. Hillsdale's distance medley relay team of Gwynne Riley, Shura Ermakov, Reese Dragovich and Margaret Scheske dropped a big season best, 11:36.53, to take second to the hosts in the race and post the seventh-best time in NCAA Division II in the event with just two weeks of competition remaining before the announcement of the NCAA DII Indoor Championships field.
Another distance stalwart, cross country All-American Liz Wamsley, posted a strong race in her first 5K of the indoor season, finishing in 16:46.12, the 15th best mark in NCAA Division II this season. That puts her in contention for a spot at the national meet as well.
Also at the GVSU Big Meet, junior Emily Gerdin finished fourth in the triple jump with her best mark of the season to date, 11.27 meters, and Ermakov took 10th in the 200m dash in a personal best time of 24.93.
Hillsdale also put together strong marks at the Tiffin Open on Saturday, led by sophomore Averi Parker, who won the shot put with a personal best throw that exceeded even the mark that made her a NCAA DII Indoor All-American in 2022. Parker's throw of 14.98 meters moves her up to sixth in NCAA DII currently and all but assures her a return trip to the NCAA DII Indoor Championships this spring.
Parker was also part of three Chargers in the top six in the weight throw at the meet. Katie Weldy led the way with a runner-up throw of 17.28 meters, with Parker taking fourth with a mark of 16.65 meters and Mackenzie Morrison placing sixth with a throw of 14.99 meters. Also in the field, Eden Little took seventh in the long jump with a mark of 4.65 meters.
On the track, junior Dakota Stamm won the 400m dash in a time of 57.74, ahead of freshman Anna Lamoreaux, who took third in 1:02.21. Freshman Francesca Federici took second in the 200m dash in a personal best time of 26.76 for the Chargers, while freshman Eleanor Minning was second in the 60m dash (7.88) as well.
In the 60m hurdles, Louisa Klaserner finished third (9.04) and Grace Gottwalt fourth (9.72) for the Chargers, and Nicole Marshall took fourth in the mile run (5:35.53).
Hillsdale has one final tune-up at home on Saturday before the all-important G-MAC Championships in Ashland, beginning on February 24, with the NCAA DII Championships to follow two weeks later in Virginia Beach.