The Hillsdale College women's track and field team had an eventful and successful first day at the 2024 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships on Thursday, hosted by Emporia State University.
The Chargers earned an All-American honor and saw a school record get obliterated in a second event as the Chargers made their mark at the national level.
Hillsdale's All-American honoree earned her distinction in the final event of the day, after a lengthly lightning delay. But the disruption to the schedule wasn't enough to faze seasoned veteran Liz Wamsley, who ran a smart, controlled race in the 10,000 meter run to grab seventh place in the nation and earn an All-American honor with a time of 35:28.90. That time was seven seconds faster than the time Wamsley ran to earn All-American honors with a seventh place finish at last year's outdoor championships, hosted in Pueblo, Colorado. Including her two cross country All-American honors and her 2023 Indoor All-American honor in the 5,000m run, Wamsley now has five All-American distinctions in her career, putting her on a short list of athletes at Hillsdale College to earn that level of recognition over their careers.
One athlete who, like Wamsley, knows what it feels like to be on the podium at national championships is fellow senior Shura Ermakov, who also had a monumental day for the Chargers on Thursday. Competing in the prelims of the 400m hurdles, Ermakov couldn't secure All-American honors on Thursday, but she did the next best thing by shattering her own school record in the event with a 57.58 to finish with the second-fastest time of any of the eight finals qualifiers in the prelims. The senior's previous best mark of 58.96 broke a record that had stood for more than 13 years when she first accomplished it in 2023, but Ermakov made rewriting it look easy on Thursday. The performance should mark Ermakov as a strong contender to better her fifth-place finish in the event in 2023 at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships, and potentially to even challenge for the national title.
Along with Ermakov and Wamsley, Hillsdale had a trio of qualifiers compete in the field events on Thursday. All three athletes were competing at a NCAA DII Outdoor Championship for the first time, and all three acquitted themselves well.
In the pole vault, sophomore Tara Townsend cleared 3.85 meters to tie for 13th place overall, a solid showing for a first-time competitor in a field full of veterans. Townsend had a shot at 4 meters, but couldn't quite get over a bar that would have exceeded her previous personal best if she'd made it.
Hillsdale also had multiple competitors in the weight throw. Senior Katie Weldy completed a strong career of constant growth and improvement with a 13th-place finish, with her best mark of 52.17 meters coming on the third and final attempt. Junior Juliet Bernard also earned valuable experience in her first-ever trip to the national meet, placing 19th with a top mark of 46.99 meters.
The Chargers will finish off the 2024 season on Saturday with three more national meet competitors. Ermakov will look to bring home a podium finish in the 400m hurdles, while Wamsley will attempt to bring home a second All-American honor in the 5,000m run on the same day. Along with those two, senior and four-time G-MAC champion Eden Little will look to cap a stellar career with All-American honors in the javelin.