The Hillsdale College women's track and field team entered the 2021 G-MAC Outdoor Championships with the goal of bringing home the team title.
And while the Chargers fell short of that team goal, the effort put forth in chasing it didn't go to waste, as Hillsdale finished with numerous personal bests and placers on Friday to finish runner-up to Findlay with 167 points.
Freshman Shura Ermakov led the Chargers on the track, winning the 400m hurdle title in a time of 1:02.26 individually, running a leg on the title-winning and G-MAC meet record-setting 4x400m relay (3:50.94) along with sophomore Alanna O'Leary and freshmen Dakota Stamm and Josee Behling, and also running a leg on the third-place 4x100 relay team (47.40) along with O'Leary, junior Kajsa Johansson and freshman Jillian Roney.
In the field, the story was Hillsdale's javelin throwers, led by freshman Eden Little, who won the event title with a meet record-setting throw of 42.26 meters. Little was one of three placers in the javelin for the Chargers, as freshman Peyton Panka took second behind her with a personal-best throw of 41.51, and Emma Shea finished sixth with a throw of 36.88 meters.
While Ermakov was Hillsdale's only individual champion on the track, she was far from the only strong performance for Hillsdale on the day in running events.
Along with her leg on the 4x400m relay title, Stamm also took second in the 400m dash (56.41) and sixth in the 200m dash as well for the Chargers (26.22). O'Leary was close behind her teammate in the 400m dash, taking fifth in 58.17 as well.
Sprinter Zalonya Eby also made her mark for the Chargers, taking second in the 200m dash (25.03) and sixth in the 100m dash (12.16).
Hillsdale had three placers in the 400m hurdles. Besides Ermakov, freshman Isabella Gutierrez took third in a personal-best time of 1:04.12, and Judith Allison finished fourth in 1:05.28 as well. Allison was one of two placers in the 100m hurdles aas well for the Chargers, taking eighth (16.45) behind teammate Louisa Klaserner, who finished fourth in a personal best time of 14.89.
The Chargers also had a strong day in mid-distance and distance races. Senior Maryssa Depies took third in both the 1,500m run (4:34.33, a personal best time in the event) and the 5,000m run (17:25.54) to lead Hillsdale's distance crew, which had three placers in both races. Junior Lauren Peterson took fifth in the 1,500m run (4:42.53) and eighth in the 5,000m run (17:52.55) in personal best times in both events as well, junior Megan Poole finished sixth in the 1,500m run (4:44.70) and sophomore Claire McNally took sixth in the 5K as well (17:38.48).
In the 800m run, the Chargers put two runners in the top four, as junior Calli Townsend took third in a personal best time of 2:13.83, and freshman Gwynne Riley also ran a personal best time of 2:14.34 to finish fourth.
Along with a strong performance in the javelin, Hillsdale's throws crew also had a strong day in the shot put, with four athletes placing. Sophomore Nikita Maines led the way with a fourth-place finish (13.98 meters), Panka took sixth with a personal best throw of 12.76 meters, Shea finished seventh with a personal-record mark of 12.45 meters, and Katie Sayles took eighth with a new collegiate best of 12.32 meters.
Two more Chargers placed in field events on the day. Freshman Emily Gerdin took third in the triple jump with a mark of 11.16 meters, and sophomore Alexie Day matched her career-best in the high jump with a clearance of 1.63 meters to take eighth.
With the G-MAC Championships in the rear-view mirror, Hillsdale now turns its focus toward the NCAA Division II National Meet at the end of May, and shoring up the spots of those on the team who've already hit qualifying marks, while also trying to get more athletes to meet the qualifying standard. The Chargers will attempt to do just that at their annual Last Chance Classic on May 13, with multi-events taking place beginning on May 12.
Thursday
The Hillsdale College women's track and field team laid the foundation for a strong championship-Friday push with an excellent showing in preliminary races in Day Two of the G-MAC Outdoor Championship Meet on Thursday in Owensboro, Kentucky.
While the bulk of Thursday's events were preliminary heats to set the championship fields for Friday's track events, the Chargers did have two more place-winners on the day, one on the track and one in the field.
Freshman Meg Scheske continued a strong first collegiate outdoor campaign for Hillsdale with a third-place finish in the 3,000m steeplechase, running a provisional qualifying time of 10:50.42 in the process, while freshman Emily Gerdin took fifth in the long jump for the Chargers, with a distance of 5.07 meters.
Hillsdale's primary goal on the day was to advance as many athletes as possible through preliminary heats on Thursday and into the Friday finals in their events, setting the Chargers up to score big points on the final day.
Mission accomplished for the Chargers, who had multiple athletes make it through to the finals in every preliminary event.
Four Chargers -- juniors Megan Poole and Lauren Peterson, sophomore Maryssa Depies and freshman Vera Thompson -- made it to the 1,500m run final, while three Hillsdale athletes qualified in both the 400m hurdles (Shura Ermakov, Judith Allison and Isabella Gutierrez) and the 200m dash (Kajsa Johansson, Zalonya Eby, Dakota Stamm).
Johansson and Eby also qualified for the 100m dash final for the Chargers, while Stamm and Alanna O'Leary made it to the finals in the 400m dash as well.
Louisa Klaserner and Allison both made the finals for Hillsdale in the 100m hurdles, and Gwynne Riley and Calli Townsend also advanced through the prelims in the 800m dash.
The Charger women enter Friday in fourth place with 25 points -- 69 behind current leader Findlay. While that's a large gap, Hillsdale has the pieces in place in Friday events to bring in massive points if everything goes well. Whether that will be enough is something that the Chargers will find out tomorrow.
The G-MAC Championship meet concludes on Friday with finals in all running events, as well as the women's high jump, triple jump, shot put and javelin finals. Live results can be found on the schedule page on hillsdalechargers.com, and a meet schedule can be found here.
Wednesday
The Hillsdale College women's track and field team got the 2021 G-MAC Outdoor Championships off to a solid start on Wednesday in Owensboro, Kentucky, with multiple placers in two of the three events that were finished on opening day.
Freshman Juliet Bernard of Westerville, Ohio excelled in her first outdoor conference championship meet, posting a runner-up finish in the women's hammer throw with a throw of 48.04 meters to lead Hillsdale on the day. Fellow freshman Katie Sayles also placed in the event, taking eighth with a mark of 44.26 meters.
In the 10,000m run at the end of the night, the Chargers had two more scoring finishers. Sophomore Claire McNally ran a lifetime best of 36:49.79 to finish fifth overall in the event, with junior Christina Sawyer close behind in seventh with a time of 37:27.53.
In the pole vault, junior Alyssa Viola was unable to place in a tough field of competitors, including two that broke the previous G-MAC record in the event, but did clear a season-best height of 3.18 meters to finish 11th overall in the event.
The action continues on Thursday at the three-day event, with finals in the women's long jump and discus, as well as prelims in all running events to determine the fields for Friday's championship races on the track.
Photo courtesy of Kentucky Wesleyan Athletics