The Hillsdale College women brought home two G-MAC titles and saw a school record fall on an excellent first day for the Chargers at the 2024 G-MAC Indoor Championships on Friday in Ashland, Ohio.
Junior Neva Polo kicked off the day in impressive fashion for Hillsdale, winning the first G-MAC title up for grabs in the indoor pentathlon.
Led by a victory in the long jump with a mark of 5.25 meters, as well as runner-up finishes in the high jump and shot put, Polo totalled an impressive 3,482 points to not only take first place but also set a new Hillsdale College record in the event, breaking the mark of 3,399 set by teammate Shura Ermakov earlier this season, as well as record a provisional qualifying mark in the event that ranks her 26th in the nation at the NCAA DII level.
Not long after Polo's win, Hillsdale added a second title in the 5,000m run, as returning indoor All-American Liz Wamsley rolled to a comfortable victory with a time of 17:18.24 to beat the field by nearly six seconds. It's Wamsley's second G-MAC indoor title after winning the 3,000m run in 2023, and the junior will look to add a repeat title in that race on Saturday as well.
Hillsdale also scored solid points in Friday's two field events. Junior Katie Sayles took third in the G-MAC with a throw of 18.56 meters in the weight throw, and senior teammate Katie Weldy placed seventh in the event with a mark of 17.67 meters as well. In the long jump, senior Emily Gerdin placed fifth with a mark of 5.55 meters to score as well for the Chargers. Hillsdale also got points from its sixth-place Distance Medley Relay, as the team of Megan Roberts, Anna Roberts, Ameera Wilson and Savannah Fraley finished in 12:06.52 as well for the Chargers.
Those finishes have Hillsdale sitting in third in a tight team race after the first day of competition, with 35 points, just four behind defending champion and leader Findlay's total of 39. The Chargers also did strong work in preliminary races on Friday that should set them up well to push Findlay for the title on Saturday.
Hillsdale will have two of the eight finalists in the 60m hurdles, led by Shura Ermakov, who posted the top time in the preliminaries with a personal best 8.72. Junior Louisa Klaserner also ran 8.82 to make the finals as well.
Ermakov also is seeded second in the 400m final with a preliminary time of 55.46, and will look to take home titles in multiple events as well on Friday.
Many more athletes will take to the track for the Chargers on the final day of competition on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. with the women's high jump and concluding at 4:10 p.m. with the meet-ending 4x400m relay. Stay tuned to hillsdalechargers.com for live results of all the events tomorrow.
Photo Courtesy of Ashland Athletics