With the field size drastically reduced for this season's NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship at the end of May in Allendale, Michigan, none of the Hillsdale College women's track and field team entered their final meet of the season on Saturday feeling safe to earn a bid.
And while there are no guarantees -- this year in particular -- both the Charger women's 4x400m relay team and freshman Margaret Scheske did a lot to help their cause with strong performances at the Lee University Last Chance Meet on Saturday.
The 4x400m relay team of freshmen Shura Ermakov and Dakota Stamm, as well as sophomores Alanna O'Leary and Zalonya Eby, cut nearly two seconds off of the Chargers' previous best time in 2021, finishing second in the meet in a time of 3:45.07 that bumps them from 17th up to 8th in the NCAA Division II event rankings as of Saturday night, and from out of the national meet field to solidly inside it with just one day remaining for other squads to potentially move up and knock them out.
Hillsdale took runner-up honors in the nation in the 4x400m relay at the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor National Meet, and three members of that squad ran for the Chargers in today's race. The fourth, Eby, is a strong addition to the team in her own right, running the lead-off leg and helping the Chargers to their fastest outdoor time in the event this season.
Scheske, meanwhile, has been in contention for a spot at the national meet in the women's 3000m steeplechase for the entire outdoor season -- but her seventh-place finish on Saturday, in a time of 10:39.04 that's a seven-second improvement over her previous personal best, was a huge moment for the freshman.
Sitting in 15th in Division II in the event when the race began on Saturday night, Scheske's personal best keeps her in the mix for a spot in an event that will likely only take the top 13 or 14 in the country to the national meet. While her spot is by no means guaranteed, her time gives her a chance that didn't exist before tonight's race.
Several other athletes competed for the Chargers in additional events on Saturday. In addition to running the anchor leg on the 4x400m relay, Ermakov also took second in the 400m hurdles in a personal best time of 1:01.84, just two-hundredths of a second off of the Division II provisional qualifying time in the event, and Stamm took third in the 400m dash with a time of 56.14 as well.
In field events, Nikita Maines won the shot put with a throw of 14.61 meters, and the Chargers went 2-4 in the javelin, with Eden Little taking second with a throw of 42.41 meters and Peyton Panka taking fourth with a throw of 40.14 meters.
All of Hillsdale's athletes with provisional qualifying times will learn their fate on Tuesday, May 18 at 6 p.m. when the NCAA announces the full Division II National Meet field by press release.
Photo by Anthony Lupi