Tough conditions and a tough field couldn't stop the Hillsdale College women's track and field team from shining at the MSU Spartan Invite on Friday.
Despite a field that included a large number of Division I athletes and cold, windy conditions, the Chargers brought home three event titles, set two new provisional marks and did well across the board.
Hillsdale's greatest success came in the jumps, where the Chargers got a personal best clearance and new provisional mark from sophomore Katie Clifford in the pole vault. Clifford got over the bar at 3.85 meters to move into a tie for 11th place for the best vault at the NCAA DII level so far this season, and join teammate Tara Townsend as a provisional qualifier in the event.
Senior Emily Gerdin also had a solid day, winning the triple jump with a mark of 11.47 meters, and also taking fourth in the long jump with a personal best mark of 5.57 meters. Teammate Grace Chen placed sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 10.65 meters, Shura Ermakov placed seventh in the long jump with a mark of 5.36 meters, and Reagan Dahlquist placed fourth with a clearance of 1.65 meters in the high jump as well for Hillsdale.
The Chargers also won multiple events on the track. Ermakov led a 1-3-4 finish for the Chargers in the 100m hurdles, winning in 15.45, just a tenth of a second ahead of teammate Louisa Klaserner in third at 15.55, with freshman Nola Hipkins taking fourth in 16.42.
Junior Reese Dragovich also won the 400m dash in a time of 58.06 for the Chargers, while sprinter Lucy Minning took fourth in the 100m dash with a time of 12.89 and sixth in the 200m dash with a time of 26.42.
In the throws, senior javelin thrower Eden Little had her first big mark of the season, taking second in the event with a mark of 42.37 meters, a provisional qualifying mark good for 22nd in the country early in the season. Also in the javelin, Neva Polo placed sixth with a throw of 28.81 meters, and in the hammer throw, senior Katie Weldy continued a strong start to the 2024 outdoor campaign by taking third in the hammer throw with a mark of 54.23 meters.
The Chargers have a long road trip next weekend, as Hillsdale will send its top athletes out to California to compete at Long Beach State and Azuza Pacific in two of the top track events in the country, with a field from across the nation scheduled to compete in both events.
Photo by David Beach