On a day when only a few event finals were contested at the G-MAC Outdoor Championships, the Hillsdale College men's track and field team made a big move in the standings on Day 2 on Thursday.
That sets the Chargers up for an exciting final day of competition on Friday in Owensboro, Kentucky, as Hillsdale's 39 points put them just nine behind second-place Tiffin with several potential placers still to compete.
The big bump up for the Chargers came from two huge finishes in the field events. Freshman Cass Dobrowolski went from contender to champion in the high jump, going over four inches higher than his previous collegiate best to win the G-MAC title with a clearance of 2.12 meters.
Dobrowolski's mark is not only a NCAA DII Provisional Qualifying mark, it's tied for the ninth best mark at the NCAA DII level this outdoor season – giving the freshman a real chance to make the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships in his first season of competition. The Chargers also picked up additional points in the high jump thanks to a strong fifth place finish from Charlie Andrews (1.95 meters) as well.
The Chargers got a second G-MAC champion on the day thanks to junior Ben Raffin, who defended his pole vault title with a clearance of 5.06 meters. Raffin, a three-time All-American in the pole vault, matched his season best with the jump and was the only vaulter to go over five meters in the competition to pick up valuable points for Hillsdale.
Rounding out a solid day of finals for Hillsdale, the Chargers placed three runners in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, all with collegiate bests in the event. Sophomore Alex Mitchell took third in 9:22.36 to lead the way, with teammate and freshman Richie Johnston close behind in fourth in 9:23.09. Sophomore Isaac Waffle placed sixth in 9:33.73 as well for Hillsdale.
While there were no additional placers in finals on Thursday for the Chargers, Hillsdale set itself up well in preliminary events for Friday's championships, with Hillsdale runners in most events making it through to the finals.
Sophomore Sean Fagan will be the top seed in both hurdles events for the Chargers, bettering his previous NCAA DII provisional time in the 110m hurdles prelims with a 14.42, and also taking first in the 400m hurdles prelims in 54.05.
Hillsdale also will have the top two seeds in the 400m dash, as sophomore Benu Meintjes took first (48.44) in the preliminaries with a collegiate best run, and teammate Jamahl Burke was close behind in 48.56.
The Chargers will have three in the finals on Friday in the 800m run, as Sean Hoeft, Micah Vanderkooi and Ross Kuhn all advanced out of prelims, while Dagur Einarsson advanced in the 100m dash and Mark Miller moved on in the 1,500m run as well.
The G-MAC Outdoor Championships wrap up on Friday, with finals in the triple jump, shot put and javelin, as well as all remaining running events. The action begins at 11 a.m. ET.
Photo by Reily Rogers