This time, the Hillsdale College women's track and field team didn't need a dramatic finish to win a G-MAC title.
By the time the Chargers took the line for the 4x400 relay on Saturday at Cedarville, the race for the indoor track and field conference championship was already over.
In 2020, the Chargers needed to win the 4x400 relay to overtake Tiffin by a single point and claim the conference crown, but in 2021, Hillsdale had a more-than-20-point lead over runner-up Findlay entering the race to claim their second-straight G-MAC indoor crown and their third in four seasons in the conference.
Hillsdale won four individual titles to help take the crown, led by sophomore Dakota Stamm, who took first in the 400 meter dash (57.63) and also ran a leg on the G-MAC-title-winning 4x400 relay with junior Alanna O'Leary, senior Zalonya Eby and sophomore Judith Allison (3:55.02) to finish with two individual titles on the day. Stamm also took third in the 200m dash (25.75) as well.
Two other Chargers won individual titles. Senior Kajsa Johansson claimed the fifth G-MAC individual crown of her career and set a new school and G-MAC record in the 200m dash, winning in 24.26 to lead four placers for the Chargers in the event, with Eby close behind in 25.32, Stamm in third and freshman Isabella Gutierrez in seventh (26.39). Adjusted for the track she was running on, Johansson now has the fastest 200m dash time in Division II, according to TFRRS.org, and is tied for the fourth-fastest raw time in the nation. Johansson also finished second in the 60m dash in 7.62 seconds, with Eby taking fifth behind her in 7.89.
The final individual champion for the Chargers in the meet was sophomore Emily Gerdin, who won her first-ever G-MAC crown with a career-best triple jump of 11.56 meters. Gerdin also took fifth in the long jump for Hillsdale (5.34 meters).
Hillsdale freshman Shura Ermakov also came away from her first G-MAC Championship meet with some serious hardware, earning G-MAC Female Freshman Athlete of the Meet honors. Ermakov took second in the 400m dash behind Stamm in 58.62, and also finished sixth in the 60m hurdles in 9.33 to earn the honor.
Ermakov was one of four Charger women to place in the 60 hurdles. Freshman Grace Gottwalt took fifth in 9.13, junior Carmen Botha took seventh in 9.45, and sophomore Judith Allison took eighth in 9.93. Allison also finished sixth in the 400 (59.25) behind Stamm and Ermakov.
The Charger mid-distance and distance crews also had strong days to help secure the title. Senior Calli Townsend took runner-up in the 800m run in 2:15.63, with sophomores Gwynne Riley (fourth, 2:19.24) and Kaitlyn Rust (fifth, 2:19:41) close behind.
In the 3,000m run, senior Maryssa Depies took second in 9:53.60 to lead three Charger placers, with freshman Elizabeth Wamsley taking sixth in 10:07.29 and junior Claire McNally taking seventh in 10:12.22.
On Friday night, McNally took second in the 5,000m run (17:36.50), leading four Hillsdale placers in the event, with senior Christina Sawyer taking third (17:39.77), Wamsley finishing 4th (17:39.93) and sophomore Margaret Scheske taking fifth (17:44.42).
Last, but not least, the Charger women had three placers in the mile on Saturday, with Scheske taking fourth in 5:12.57, Lauren Peterson finishing fifth in 5:17.69 and Riley taking sixth in 5:14.16.
In the field events, Hillsdale scored big points in the throws, led by junior Nikita Maines, who finished third in the weight throw (15.81 meters) and fourth in the shot put (13.01 meters). Freshman Juliet Bernard took fifth for the Chargers as well in the weight throw (15.07 meters), and freshmen Katie Sayles (fifth, 12.11 meters) and Peyton Panka (sixth, 12.03 meters) also placed in the shot put.
Senior Alyssa Viola scored in the pole vault with an eighth-place finish for the Chargers, clearing a career-best height of 3.22 meters, and freshman heptathlete Louisa Klaserner scored 2,712 points to finish sixth for Hillsdale, highlighted by runner-up finishes in the 60m hurdles and 800m run.
Championship in hand, Hillsdale now awaits the announcement of the NCAA Division II National Meet field. The event is scheduled to take place on March 12-13 in Birmingham, Alabama and the Chargers expect to have several qualifiers who will compete for All-American honors two weeks from now.
Photo by Scott Huck, Cedarville Athletics