It feels like the Hillsdale College men's track and field team has been waiting for a decent weather day all outdoor season long.
With temperatures finally matching the season, the Chargers didn't let it go to waste at the Elaine Leigh Invitational this weekend, held by Oakland University, posting two NCAA DII Provisional Qualifying times and a deluge of personal bests all across the track and in the field.
Both of Hillsdale's provo marks came from the same athlete, as sophomore Sean Fagan put everything together to reach the first outdoor individual provisional qualifying marks of his Hillsdale career.
Fagan took third in the 110m hurdles, in a time of 14.45, to post the 33rd-fastest time in the nation at the NCAA DII level and earn his first provo time, and then, a few hours later, added a second with a runner-up finish in the 400m hurdles in 53.12. That mark ranks 22nd in the nation at the NCAA DII level currently.
While Fagan was the headliner, it was a great day on the track for several Hillsdale athletes. The Chargers placed three in the 3,000m Steeplechase, with sophomore Alex Mitchell taking third in a personal best time of 9:34.22. Richie Johnston also finished fifth (9:46.86) and Isaac Waffle eighth (9:55.88) in their first collegiate 3K steeple race.
Hillsdale also had three placers in the 400m dash, with Jamahl Burke leading the way in third with a time of 48.29. Benu Meintjes took fourth in 49.14 and Maliq Brock finished fifth in a personal best time of 49.90 as well for the Chargers, while all three teamed up with Ian Calvert to win the 4x400m Relay in 3:17.93. Burke also ran a leg on Hillsdale's 4x100m relay, along with Owen Gardner, Dagur Einarsson and Oliver Samuelsson, that earned runner-up honors in a season-best time of 41.64.
Einarsson also ran a personal best in the 100m dash, taking sixth in a time of 10.73, and Sean Hoeft won the 1,500m run for the Chargers, in a personal best time of 4:05.81. Racing his first 800m run of the season, Micah Vanderkooi took ninth in a respectable time of 1:55.95 as well.
In the field, Kyle MacBeth led the Chargers with a victory in the javelin, with a throw of 54.12 meters, and Joshua Nichols placed third in the triple jump (13.75 meters) and 10th in the long jump (6.53 meters) as well.
Hillsdale had two athletes place in the high jump, with Cass Dobrowolski taking fourth with a clearance of 2.00 meters, and Charlie Andrews placing eighth with a jump of 1.90 meters. Jonathan Burton also placed in the discus for the Chargers, taking seventh with a personal best throw of 42.12 meters.
The Chargers are just two weeks out from the G-MAC Championships, and have one final tune-up meet at Walsh next weekend to prepare.
Photo by Reily Rogers