The annual Grand Valley State "Big Meet" once again was the stage for some big-time performances for the Hillsdale College women's indoor track and field team on Friday -- and none bigger than senior Kajsa Johansson.
The sprinter from North Oaks, Minnesota outdid herself once again. Just one week after breaking the Hillsdale College indoor 60 meter record she already held at the Wide-Track Classic, Johansson broke another one of her indoor school records -- taking second in the 200 meter dash in 24.30, .09 seconds faster than the previous record of 24.39 she set in a meet last year.
Johansson's time is also a Division II national meet provisional qualifying mark, and the third fastest time in Division II this year. It's not the only fast time Johansson put down on Friday, as she teamed with Dakota Stamm, Shura Ermakov and Alanna O'Leary to take second in the 4x400 relay in a school-record setting time of 3:47.83 -- a mark that's also a Division II provisional one, and the third fastest time so far this season.
Stamm, Ermakov, O'Leary and Johansson broke a five-year old school record of 3:47.86 set by Corinne Zehner, Fiona Shea, Emily Guy and Allison Duber at the 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships, where that Charger relay team took fifth in the nation and earned All-American honors.
Hillsdale had several other notable performances on Friday in Allendale. Senior Maryssa Depies, already a provisional qualifier in the 3,000m run, finished sixth in the mile in 4:54.40, a personal best and another provisional qualifying time, while teammate Claire McNally finished 18th in the 5,000m run in 17:18.62 to earn the first provisional qualifying mark in any event in her three-year career.
Senior Calli Townsend just missed a provisional qualifying mark but ran a personal best time of 2:14.48 in the 800m run, setting herself up for a qualifying push over the next two weeks, sophomore Dakota Stamm took 11th in the 400 dash (57.14) and freshman Shura Ermakov finished 21st (7.99) in her first collegiate 60m dash.
Also in the 5,000m run, senior Christina Sawyer took 22nd in 17:26.63 and sophomore Margaret Scheske took 25th in a personal-best time of 17:46.48.
Oiler Invite
The Charger women's track and field team split its squad this weekend, and while some ran at GVSU on Friday, the rest took to the track in Findlay, Ohio on Saturday as part of the Oiler Invite.
Hillsdale won four individual titles in the meet, led by junior thrower Nikita Maines, who took first in both the shot put (13.92 meters) and weight throw (16.83m). While Maines didn't set any new personal bests on Saturday, she displayed the consistency that will make her a real title threat at the G-MAC Championships in two weeks.
Also taking first for the Chargers were two freshmen. Josee Behling won the 400m dash (59.61) for Hillsdale, with teammate Judith Allison coming in third (59.98), while freshman Elizabeth Wamsley led a 1-2 Charger finish in the 5,000m run, finishing in 18:08.98 while teammate Lauren Peterson took runner-up honors (18:19.18).
Several other Chargers had strong performances. Freshman Vera Thompson ran a new personal best time of 5:13.08 to take second in the mile run, and freshman Peyton Panka took third in the shot put with a new personal-best throw of 12.54 meters.
Sophomore Allison Nimtz took second (8.04) and sophomore Jillian Roney third (8.21) for the Chargers in the 60m dash, freshman Grace Gottwalt took second in the 60m hurdles in a new personal best of 9.19, and Kaitlyn Rust earned a runner-up finish in the 800m run (2:19.32).
In the field events, Emily Gerdin took second in the triple jump (11.05 meters) and Alexie Day took second in the high jump (1.55 meters) for Hillsdale.
The Chargers will be in action next Saturday at home for the Hillsdale Tune-Up meet, the team's final action before the all-important G-MAC Championship meet hosted by Cedarville on Feb. 26 and 27.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop