The Hillsdale College women's track and field team showed just how excited it was to be competing at home in the outdoor season for the first time in three years on Saturday.
The Chargers won 14 events in its first home invitational at the new outdoor track and field facility at Hayden Park, with big performances across all disciplines.
Leading the way for the Chargers was junior Juliet Bernard in the hammer throw, who threw a career-best and NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark of 52.96 to take the title in the event. Bernard now ranks 24th in the nation at the NCAA DII level in the event and is on the cusp of qualifying for the national meet if she can continue to improve over the next three weeks.
Along with Bernard, Hillsdale took home several titles in the field. Junior Kaylee Jackson won the pole vault for the Chargers with a clearance of 3.62 meters, and fellow junior Erika Mogelvang also won the triple jump with a mark of 10.23 meters.
In the long jump, Emily Gerdin led a 1-2 finish for Hillsdale with a new personal best of 5.60 meters in the event, with Grace Chen placing second with a mark of 5.10 meters. Reagan Dahlquist took home the high jump title as well for Hillsdale with a clearance of 1.65 meters, while freshman Elaine Kutas placed second with a mark of 1.48 meters, and Neva Polo finished runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 31.70 meters as well.
On the track, Hillsdale was dominant across the distances. In the sprints, Lucy Minning won the 100m dash in 12.32 and took second to Shura Ermakov in the 200m dash with a time of 26.35, with Ermakov winning the 200 title in 24.95. Anna Lamoreaux took second in the 100m dash as well for Hillsdale in 13.00, and Minning and Lamoreaux teamed with Francesca Federici and Tara Townsend to win the 4x100 meter relay as well in 48.52.
The Chargers also got a title from Josee Behling in the 400m dash, winning in 59.14, and swept the top five places in the 800m run, with Megan Roberts leading the way in 2:17.12, and teammate Zoe Burke placing second in 2:19.00. Roberts also teamed with Savannah Fraley, Vera Thompson and Whitney Wilkinson to win the 4x400m relay in 4:16.08.
Hillsdale also went 1-2 in the 1,500m run, with freshman Anna Stirton taking first in 5:00.58 and Kayla Loescher placing second in 5:03.21, and took the top two spots in the 3,000m steeplechase, with Megan's sister, Anna Roberts, winning in 11:59.33 and Eleanor Clark taking second in 12:02.69. Louisa Klaserner also won the 400m hurdles for the Chargers in 1:03.44.
Hillsdale has one final week for tune-ups ahead of the G-MAC Championships it will host on May 1-3, with Chargers athletes heading to Walsh and Ashland next weekend for one final chance to get marks ahead of championship season.
Photo by Jordan Monnin