The Hillsdale College men's track and field team faced one of the largest and toughest fields it'll see all season at this weekend's Jud Logan "Light Giver" Invitational, hosted by Ashland University.
While the presence of many of the Midwest's best DII, DIII and NAIA athletes made getting podium finishes a challenge, several Chargers rose to the occasion to post some of their best times of the year in solid performances.
On Friday, sophomore Ben Haas was a highlight for the Chargers, taking second in the Elite division of the weight throw competition and first among college competitors with a lifetime best throw of 21.43 meters in the event. The mark resets Haas' NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in the event and gives him the third best mark in the nation at the NCAA DII level, ties for the fourth-furthest throw in the event in G-MAC history, and brings him within .12 meters of Hillsdale's school record in the event set by 2010 NCAA DII National Champion Jason Stomps.
The third-place finisher in the 2023 NCAA DII Indoor Championships in the weight throw, Haas looks on track to contend for the national title in March and also to break one of the most impressive records on the books at Hillsdale College.
Also on Friday night, freshman Caleb Youngstedt set a new personal best in the 5,000m run, finishing seventh in 15:32.28.
On Saturday, Haas added to his big showing in the weight throw with a sixth place finish in the Elite division of the shot put, with a throw of 15.41 meters. Hillsdale's Cass Dobrowolski also placed fifth in the high jump for the Chargers, clearing 1.95 meters, and Connor McCormick took fifth in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.70 meters as well.
On the track, Hillsdale had multiple placers in the 800m run, led be Sean Hoeft's sixth-place finish in 1:53.11. Teammate Seth Jankowski was close behind in eighth place, finishing in 1:53.53.
While they didn't place against a loaded field of competitors, Hillsdale also got a series of personal bests from its sprint crew. Junior Owen Gardner ran a PR in the 200m dash (23.12), as did senior Joseph Ritzer (22.69). Drew Ransom ran personal bests in both the 60m dash (7.11) and 200m dash (22.60) as well for Hillsdale, while sophomore Colsen Conway ran a personal best in the 400m dash (51.25).
In the field, Matthew Belanich also set a personal best for the Chargers in the weight throw, with a distance of 16.23 meters.
Hillsdale has another important weekend coming up, as the Chargers split their squad between the always highly competitive GVSU Big Meet and the Tiffin Open. Virtually every healthy Hillsdale track and field athlete will be in action at one of the two meets next weekend as the Chargers look to prepare for the G-MAC Championship meet in three weeks' time.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan