Hillsdale College freshman thrower Ben Haas took an impressive start one step further at the Charger men's track and field team's home tri-meet against Ashland and Findlay on Friday.
After an encouraging debut at the GVSU Holiday Open in December, Haas had his furthest mark yet in the weight throw on Friday, throwing 18.84 meters to take third in a crowded and competitive field and give the Charger men their first NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark of the season.
Haas was one of several highlights in the field for the Chargers on the night. Returning All-American Ben Raffin cleared 4.68 meters to win the pole vault title, while sophomore Joshua Nichols won the triple jump (13.83 meters) for Hillsdale and also took fourth in the long jump (6.32 meters).
Freshman Cass Dobrowolski placed in two events for the Chargers, tying for fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 1.90 meters and taking sixth in the long jump with a personal best leap of 6.15 meters. Sophomore Charlie Andrews also cleared 1.90 meters in the high jump for Hillsdale and finished sixth on the tiebreaker.
On the track, Hillsdale had a strong showing in the mid-distance and distance races. Freshman Ross Kuhn took second in the 800 meter run in a personal-best time of 1:58.20, with senior Mark Miller placing fifth in the event in 1:59.40 and sophomore Benu Meintjes taking sixth in 1:59.41. Kuhn also teamed up with Sean Hoeft, Jack Shelley and Preston Fagerlin on Hillsdale's third-place 4x400 relay team (3:33.36) as well.
The Chargers also placed multiple runners in the 3,000 meter run, with sophomore Alex Mitchell taking second (8:51.17) and freshman Donnie McArdle placing third (8:57.34). Teammate Isaac Waffle took fifth in the mile run (4:28.57) and also won the 400 meter hurdles (1:00.53) for Hillsdale.
In the sprints, freshman Oliver Samuelsson placed in two events against tough competition, taking third in the 200 meter dash (22.46) and fifth in the 60 meter dash (7.16). Sophomore Jamahl Burke took fourth in the 200 meter dash (22.85), Sean Fagan finished fifth in the 60m hurdles (8.53) and Ian Calvert took fifth in the 400m dash (52.15).
Hillsdale finished second behind the defending NCAA DII Outdoor champion Eagles in the final team standings for the meet, scoring 82.5 points to top Findlay's total of 76 for runner-up honors.
The Chargers will host another home meet next week, the Hillsdale Winter Classic, for their next action. The meet will begin on Friday with competition in the pentathlon and heptathlon, with the rest of the meet taking place on Saturday.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop