The Hillsdale College women's track and field team brought a solid weekend at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach to a close on Saturday with competition in three events.
In the mile run, junior Margaret Scheske ran a solid race in Saturday's final but came up just short of All-American honors, taking ninth in 4:58.81. Scheske moved into seventh place with a strong push with 400 meters to go, but couldn't hold off a late furious kick by her opponents on the final lap.
Competing in the shot put, sophomore Averi Parker improved with each of her three throws, but just couldn't find the mark she needed to make the finals and earn a shot at All-American honors for the second straight year. Parker finished in 14th overall with a best throw of 13.25 meters.
In the final event of the day, the 4x400 meter relay, Hillsdale got off to a solid start and was in the race through the first two legs, until a collision during the second and third exchange dropped the Chargers back in the race. A strong final leg by anchor Shura Ermakov, who ran 54.94, helped Hillsdale pass Mount Olive on the home stretch to place 14th overall, in 3:49.93. Sophomore Reese Dragovich, freshman Francesca Federici and senior Dakota Stamm joined Ermakov on the relay.
Hillsdale leaves the weekend continuing its streak of years with an All-American, thanks to Liz Wamsley's seventh-place finish in the 5,000m run on Friday night, and now turns its focus to the outdoor track and field season, which begins on Saturday, March 25 at the Yellow Jacket Open in Cedarville, Ohio.