After a year off due to the sudden cancellation of the spring 2020 season, the GINA Relays are back this weekend at Hillsdale College.
Athletes from 46 colleges, along with a variety of elite sponsored and amateur athletes competing unattached, will descend on the Hillsdale College campus tomorrow for the 54th edition of a three-day meet that's long been the highlight of the Hillsdale College track and field schedule.
The meet is held annually in honor of Hillsdale College distance running legend Gina Van Laar, a NAIA national champion and the Valedictorian of the Hillsdale Class of 1988. After Van Laar tragically passed in a car accident in 1996, the Charger track and field program renamed its annual multi-day track invitational after her to help keep her memory alive.
After losing what would have been the 54th edition last year in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chargers and elite athletes from across the Midwest are excited to make up for lost time in the 2021 edition this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Information
Schedule | Performance List | Records | The Story of Gina
Notes
- True to the spirit of Van Laar, the distance races are always the highlight of the GINA Relays, with the largest fields and some of the most elite competitors. The meet begins on Thursday night at 6:45 p.m. with the open 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs, and, after a full afternoon of running events on Friday, the Championship races in the distances take center stage that night, beginning at 7 p.m.
- Because of the size of the fields in many distance events at the GINA relays, the event is broken up into two separate races – an "open" race that is available to all entrants, and a "championship" race that is reserved for the fastest competitors and requires that an entrant post a strong enough seed time to qualify. Events with separate championship races at this year's GINAs include the men's and women's 1,500 meter run, the men's and women's 5,000m run, and the men's 10,000m run.
- Part of the fun of the GINA Relays is seeing if any of the formidable records in the event's storied record book might fall -- and there are a couple with a real chance of being broken this year. Tiffin's Cameron Burrows has a PR of 2.15 meters in the high jump – just a centimeter off the 21-year old record of 2.16 meters set by Bi Hong Yong. But the record with the best chance to fall in 2021 is the women's 3000m steeplechase, where a face familiar to Hillsdale fans – 2016 graduate and nine-time Division II national champion Emily Oren -- could break the record of 10:02.74 set by Sarah Boyle of Saucony in 2016. Oren's PR in the event is 9:40.65 – over 22 seconds faster than the record as it stands.
- For Hillsdale College fans, there could be several Charger winners despite the strength of the GINA field. Hillsdale is the top seed in four events on the men's side – Ethan Perttula in the hammer throw (49.40 meters), Ian Brown in the 110m hurdles (14.21), Jamahl Burke in the 400m dash (48.40) and the Charger men's 4x400m relay. The Chargers also have the top seed in six women's events – Dakota Stamm in the 400m dash (56.34), Shura Ermakov in the 400m hurdles (1:01.87), Kajsa Johansson in the 200m dash (24.03), Nikita Maines in the shot put (14.77 meters), and both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.