Already an All-American in cross country, sophomore Liz Wamsley added another chapter to her story at Hillsdale College at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships on Friday night in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The sophomore ran an impressive tactical race in the 5,000 meter run, working her way through opponents in the back half of the race to finish seventh, in a personal best time of 16:29.77, and add an indoor track and field All-American honor to the one she earned in cross country by finishing 22nd at the NCAA DII Championships in December in Seattle, Washington.
For a moment, it seemed as though Wamsley might not be rewarded after all. A counting error during the race led the starter to mistakenly keep Wamsley on the track for an extra lap when she should have finished, dropping her all the way back to 17th in the final standings and well back of All-American status.
The mistake was caught and quickly rectified, and Wamsley was restored to seventh place based on the time she crossed the line in at the correct 5K distance.
Wamsley's honor was the big story of a solid day for the Chargers on the track at the Indoor Championships. Earlier in the day, Hillsdale gave themselves a chance at another potential All-American run on Saturday thanks to a strong performance in the mile prelims by junior Margaret Scheske, who led the second heat for three-quarters of the race and held on for the final lap to earn one of nine spots in the final, with a time of 4:48.99 that seeds her sixth among the competitors on Saturday.
Teammate Gwynne Riley also ran a strong race in the same heat but came up just short of advancing to the final, finishing 13th overall in 4:50.48.
Both Scheske and Riley also ran on the distance medley relay for the Chargers, teaming with Shura Ermakov and Reese Dragovich to finish ninth, one place shy of All-American status, in 11:36.96. The Chargers spent most of the race in 10th before moving up to eighth in the third leg, but couldn't hold off a hard-charging Minnesota State squad in a final kick to the line on the last lap.
In the field events, Hillsdale had two competitors in the weight throw at the 2023 NCAA DII Indoor Championships. In her second trip to the indoor national meet, sophomore Katie Sayles bettered her 2022 performance, finishing one spot higher in 12th with a throw of 18.04 meters. Senior Nikita Maines finished tied for 17th in the weight throw event.
Hillsdale will look to add to its All-American haul with competitors in three events on the second and final day of the NCAA DII Indoor Championships. Sophomore Averi Parker, an All-American in the indoor shot put in 2022, will look to achieve the same on Saturday as competition in the women's shot put begins at 2:40 p.m. Scheske competes in the women's mile look to grab a top eight finish and her first-ever All-American honor at 4:20 p.m., and the Chargers' 4x400 team of Riley, Dakota Stamm, Dragovich and Ermakov close out the meet in the final event at 6:30 p.m.