After a standout first healthy season with the Hillsdale College men's track and field team, sophomore Ben Haas is looking for more in 2023-24.
If the first weekend of indoor competition is any indication, Haas is well on the way to making that happen, and his initial performance was good enough to earn the Clarkston, Michigan native the first G-MAC Field Athlete of the Week honors for the 2023-24 season, the conference office announced on Monday.
Haas was sensational in the event that first catapulted him to national fame last season, the weight throw, at the Oiler Opener in Findlay, Ohio on Friday. The sophomore won the event with a throw of 20.39 meters, not just a provisional mark in the event but the furthest throw in the event in NCAA DII this season, and the sixth-best in the nation regardless of division. That mark was less than three-tenths of a meter off of the 20.66 meter throw that made Haas the third-place finisher in the nation at the 2023 NCAA DII Indoor Championships this past spring, and less than five-tenths of a meter off his all-time best throw of 20.88 meters that won him the G-MAC title in the event last spring.
The throw means Haas is well ahead of last year's schedule, as the sophomore didn't break 20 meters in the weight throw for the first time until mid-February in the 2022-23 season. That bodes well for Haas as he seeks to become Hillsdale's first national champion in the weight throw since Hillsdale College Hall of Famer Jason Stomps in 2010, and also to threaten Stomps' long-standing school record in the event of 21.55 meters set during that title-winning effort.
Haas will be back in action next on Jan. 12, when Hillsdale returns to Findlay for a dual meet with the Oilers.