The Hillsdale College men's track team had a noteworthy performance at this weekend's Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, recording for first place and four second place finishes against a field that included multiple NCAA Division I opponents.
Leading the way for Hillsdale was junior pole vaulter Ben Raffin. In his first meet since earning the third All-American honor of his career at the NCAA DII Indoor National Championships in March, Raffin put himself in position to do the same at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in May, clearing 5.06 meters to not only win the event on Friday, but also achieve a provisional qualifying mark in the event. Raffin currently possesses the seventh-best outdoor pole vault mark in the country at the NCAA Division II level, and will look to keep building on this weekend's performance throughout April.
While Raffin was the only Charger male athlete to achieve a provisional mark this weekend, there were several more strong performances. In his second collegiate javelin competition, freshman Kyle MacBeth bettered his throw from last week with a mark of 55.32 meters to win the event for the Chargers, and sophomore Joshua Nichols also won the triple jump for Hillsdale with a mark of 13.90 meters, while teammate Alfonso Garcia took fourth with a personal best jump of 12.73 meters.
In the high jump, freshman Cass Dobrowolski also placed highly for Hillsdale, clearing 2.01 meters to take third overall.
On the track, the Chargers went 1-2 in the 100 meter dash, with sophomore Dagur Einarsson winning the race in 10.92 and senior Jacob Schmidt finishing close behind in second place in 11.01.
Sophomore hurdler Sean Fagan continued a strong start to the season with a runner-up finish in the 400m hurdles, in a time of 54.46, while the Chargers placed two in the top three in the 400m dash, with sophomore Jamahl Burke taking second in 48.83, and sophomore Benu Meintjes taking third in 49.34.
The Chargers also put together a strong 4x100m Relay, with Schmidt, Burke and Einarsson teaming up with Joseph Ritzer to finish second behind a Division I competitor in 42.53. Sophomore Ian Calvert also ran well in the 800m dash for Hillsdale, taking fourth in 1:56.66.
Hillsdale will look to build off this performance when it heads south next weekend to Cleveland, Tennessee for the Flames Invitational hosted by Lee University. One of the top track and field programs in the South, the competition should be strong and the weather more conducive to fast times on the track than the last two weeks of meets.
Photo by Anthony Lupi