The Hillsdale College men's track and field team wrapped up two solid days of competition with several notable performances on the final day of the 2024 G-MAC Indoor Championships on Saturday in Ashland.
Hillsdale finished seventh, with 47 points, led by G-MAC weight throw champion Ben Haas. After taking that crown on Friday night, Haas returned to the throwing circle on Saturday and hit a massive personal best in the indoor shot put, throwing nearly a full meter farther indoors than he ever had previously to earn runner-up honors with a mark of 16.77 meters. That throw is also a NCAA DII Provisional Qualifying mark, ranking Haas 28th in the nation in NCAA DII in the event.
The Chargers got another impressive provisional mark from senior Sean Hoeft in the 800m run, as Hoeft finished fifth in 1:51.74 in the fastest 800m race in G-MAC Indoor Championships history. The senior currently ranks 36th at the NCAA DII level after that performance, one that was just five-tenths of a second off a Hillsdale College school record that's stood since 2000 of 1:51.25. Hoeft also ran a leg on Hillsdale's fifth-place 4x400m relay, teaming with seniors Sean Fagan, Joseph Ritzer, and Benu Meintjes to finish in 3:19.60.
Junior Alex Mitchell had a podium finish for the Chargers in the 3,000m run as well, taking third in a collegiate best time of 8:22.13, while teammate Ross Kuhn also set a new personal best in the mile, taking sixth in 4:10.88.
Two seniors also finished off their indoor careers for the Chargers by placing at the G-MAC Indoor Championships. Senior Sean Fagan took eighth in the 60m hurdles, finishing in 8.33, while senior Benu Meintjes placed eighth in the 400m dash, in 49.24.
Hillsdale's Ben Haas will move on to the NCAA DII Indoor Championships on March 8 and 9 in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he will be the second seed in the weight throw and look to challenge for a national championship in the event. The rest of Hillsdale's team will turn its focus to the outdoor track season, which kicks off on March 15-16 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational.
Photo Courtesy of Ashland Athletics