With the all-important G-MAC Championships looming next week, the Hillsdale College men's track and field team made its final adjustments in a pair of tune-up meets down in Ohio over the course of the week.
A small contingent of Chargers went to the Walsh Tune-Up meet in Canton, Ohio on Thursday, where sophomore Connor McCormick brought home the pole vault title with a clearance of 4.61 meters. Fellow sophomore Caleb Bigler also ran a personal best to place eighth in the 3,000m steeplechase, in 10:40 flat.
The bulk of Hillsdale's team competed at the Ashland Alumni Open on Friday and Saturday. Freshman Thomas Flud continued his impressive season in the javelin on Friday with a title in the event and a winning throw of 57.19 meters, while teammate Ethan Dorrell finished fifth in 51.71 meters as well. Sophomore Ben Haas threw over the NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in the hammer throw to finish fifth in the elite division of the event, but his mark of 63.62 meters was not an improvement on his season best.
On the track, Hillsdale had a pair of placers in the hurdles, as senior Sean Fagan took third in the 400m hurdles with a time of 54.23, and sophomore Colsen Conway placed fifth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.04. Fagan also teamed with fellow seniors Jamahl Burke, Joseph Ritzer and Benu Meintjes to win the 4x400m relay in a season-best time of 3:17.82, setting Hillsdale up well for the G-MAC Championships in the event.
In the sprints, senior Drew Ransom took sixth in the 200m dash with a personal best time of 21.77, and also ran a personal best, albeit wind-aided, of 10.78 in the 100m dash as well.
Hillsdale now turns its focus to the G-MAC Championships next week, which it will host at the new outdoor track at Hayden Park beginning on Wednesday. The Chargers will look for several conference champions and to improve on a sixth-place finish from 2023.
Photo by Jordan Monnin