Competing in the final event of their collegiate careers on the last day of the 2024 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships on Saturday at Emporia State University, three Hillsdale College women's track and field athletes added to their already storied legacies with strong performances.
A four-time G-MAC Champion and the school record holder in the javelin, Chargers senior Eden Little added the one accolade her resume was missing to start the day on Saturday, placing seventh in the nation in the javelin competition to earn her first career All-American honor. Facing elimination before finals on her third and final throw of the prelims, Little came through in the clutch with the best throw of her career, a 48.08 meter missile that broke her own school record and ensured her a shot at All-American honors. That mark held up through the finals, allowing the best women's javelin thrower in Hillsdale College history to go out in deserving fashion.
On the track, in the women's 400m hurdle finals, senior Shura Ermakov ran a gutsy race, salvaging a mishap on the second hurdle of the competition and battling through an injury created by that mishap to still cross the line in sixth place in the nation, with a time of 1:00.95, to earn All-American honors once again. The All-American honor is the second in a row for Ermakov in the 400m hurdles, and the sixth total in her career, including three All-American performances on Chargers relays and three individual awards. She finishes her career at Hillsdale as the school record holder in four events -- the indoor 400m dash, the outdoor 400m hurdles, and part of both the indoor and outdoor 4x400m relay records -- along with those impressive six All-American awards.
To finish the weekend, senior Liz Wamsley also gutted out her second All-American performance of the 2024 Outdoor Championships in the 5,000m run. Earlier in the week on Thursday, Wamsley had placed seventh in the nation in the 10,000m run, and for the first time in her career the senior chose to come back from the 10K and also contest the 5,000m run at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships.
In a tight race, Wamsley left everything she had on the track, running a smart tactical race to stay in position and winning a sprint to the finish line to take the eighth and final All-American spot in the event in 16:55.10. Like Ermakov, Wamsley leaves an impressive legacy at Hillsdale, as the senior's final All-American honor gives her six for her career -- two in cross country, one in the indoor 5,000m run, and back-to-back honors in the outdoor 10K along with this year's 5K honor.
All three athletes will be missed at Hillsdale, but their achievements rank among the all-time greats in Chargers track and field history, and will be remembered for years to come.