The 2023-24 school year was another record-setting one for the Hillsdale College men's and women's track and field teams, as both programs combined to rewrite 11 school records and earn seven All-American honors.
Perhaps most importantly for the program, the 2024 outdoor campaign was the first season since 2021 that the Chargers played host to an outdoor meet, as the completed new outdoor track and field facility at Hayden Park allowed Hillsdale to serve as the host site for the 2023 G-MAC Outdoor Track and Field championships at the start of May.
The season started indoors, where Hillsdale saw two athletes shatter impressive school records on the way to All-American honors in March at Pittsburg State University. Sophomore Ben Haas broke the school record in the men's indoor weight throw set by Hillsdale College Athletic Hall of Famer and past national champion Jason Stomps with a mark of 21.88 meters, and had the top throw in NCAA DII for much of the season before placing sixth at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships for his second-straight All-American honor. On the women's side, Shura Ermakov broke an 18-year old school record set by Jazmin Williams in 2006 in the 400m dash, winning the G-MAC title in the event and eventually placing sixth as well in the NCAA DII Indoor Championships with a top time of 54.28 to earn All-American honors.
Three more records fell for the Chargers indoors, as junior Averi Parker reset the indoor school record in the shot put with a throw of 15.18 meters, senior Louisa Klaserner broke the 60m hurdles record with a time of 8.65 and junior Neva Polo won the G-MAC title in the pentathlon while breaking Hillsdale's school record in the event with 3,482 points.
Along with Polo and Ermakov's titles at the G-MAC Championships hosted by Ashland in February, Liz Wamsley also was a two-time G-MAC Indoor Champion in both the 5,000m run and the 3,000m run for the women, while senior Emily Gerdin won the triple jump title as well. The women finished third as a team overall, while the Hillsdale men took seventh.
A strong winter gave Hillsdale momentum heading into a big spring that would see the first competitive events run on the Chargers' new outdoor track. Hillsdale lived up to the pressure of the new facility with several records falling, starting with freshman Thomas Flud, who made big waves early by breaking a 37 year old program record in the javelin in his first collegiate meet in March in South Carolina, and ultimately finished the season with a top mark of 62.17 meters.
By the end of the season, Hillsdale had sent nine athletes to the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships in Emporia, Kansas in May, competing in 10 events, and bringing home five All-American honors. Ermakov led the way for the Chargers, breaking her own school record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.58 on the way to a sixth place finish in the nation. Haas also added two his two indoor All-American honors with his first outdoor All-American nod thanks to a seventh-place finish in the hammer throw, while four-time G-MAC Champion Eden Little ended her career an All-American with a school record throw of 48.08 meters to place seventh as well.
Senior Liz Wamsley was a double All-American for Hillsdale at the outdoor championships, placing seventh in the 10,000m run and eighth in the 5,000m run for the Chargers to finish her career with six All-American distinctions.
Along with those All-American honors, Hillsdale also had multiple additional school records broken in the outdoor season. Richie Johnston broke Hillsdale's 3,000m steeplechase mark on the men's side in a G-MAC-title winning performance with a time of 8:55.09, while on the women's side senior Emily Gerdin became Hillsdale's first 12 meter triple jumper with a best mark of 12.08 meters, and Neva Polo added the school heptathlon record to her pentathlon record with a points total of 4,776.
Hosting the 2024 G-MAC Outdoor Championships in May, Hillsdale's women took third and the Charger men placed fourth. Little won the javelin title, Ermakov was the G-MAC 100m hurdles champion, and Reagan Dahlquist tied for the G-MAC high jump title on the women's side, while on the men's side Johnston won the steeplechase title, Cass Dobrowolski was the G-MAC Champion in the high jump, and Flud won the javelin title while also bringing home G-MAC Freshman of the Meet honors.
The Chargers bid farewell to a record-setting and All-American-laden senior class but have several strong competitors slated to return for the 2024-25 school year, as well as a strong incoming freshman class coming in to continue to chase more accolades next winter and spring. First up is cross country season in the fall, beginning with the opening meets in September. Hillsdale is the scheduled host for the 2024 G-MAC Cross Country Championships, set to take place on Oct. 26, 2024 at Hayden Park.