The Hillsdale College women's track and field team makes an annual trip to California in April to compete in two of the biggest college meets of the year for a reason.
The combination of perfect weather and excellent competition usually leads to the types of performances that get athletes to the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships -- and 2024 was no exception.
Two school records fell and Hillsdale women's track and field athletes made six new NCAA DII provisional qualifying marks in competition at the Bryan Clay Invite hosted by Azusa Pacific and the Long Beach State invite over the weekend.
Of the two meets, the Bryan Clay Invite was the most fruitful, but big things also happened at the Long Beach State Invite for the Chargers. In a 400m hurdles race at Long Beach on Thursday, senior Shura Ermakov took fifth in a 400m hurdles race that included multiple top NCAA DI athletes and an Olympic hopeful from Great Britain, with a time of 59.01 that was just a couple tenths of a second off from her school record in the event. The mark was so fast, it currently represents the top time in the country at the NCAA DII level by any female athlete in the 400m hurdles. It almost assuredly locks up Ermakov's return trip to the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships to defend her All-American honors in the event in 2023, and marks her as a potential national title contender in the race.
In the throws at Long Beach State, another Charger was making history, as senior Eden Little took third in a tough field in the women's javelin with a mark of 46.28 meters, breaking her own school record in the event. The mark ranks fifth in the nation in the event and almost certainly punches Little's ticket back to the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships this May after she qualified in the event in 2023.
Also on Thursday, Hillsdale's Liz Wamsley cut nearly 45 seconds off her previous best time in the 10,000m run at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, finishing second in her heat in the race and posting the sixth-fastest time in NCAA DII to date in the event, 34:14.94. Wamsley's time was just nine seconds off the school record held by Kristina Galat, and should give the junior a return trip to the NCAA DII Outdoor Nationals as she looks to earn All-American honors once again in the 10K.
Hillsdale finished its California trip on Saturday with three more provisional marks at the Bryan Clay Invite. Junior Reese Dragovich ran a personal-best time of 2:10.10 in the 800m run for the Chargers, a provisional mark and the 24th-fastest time in the event at the NCAA DII level to date, while Ermakov added a second provisional mark in the 100m hurdles, finishing in 14.19 for the 30th best mark in NCAA DII so far, just ahead of teammate Louisa Klaserner, who finished in 14.33.
In addition, Ermakov and Dragovich teamed up with Francesca Federici and Josee Behling to run a provisional qualifying time in the 4x400m relay, finishing in 3:46.15 for the 21st best time in NCAA DII so far.
In the field, senior Emily Gerdin broke her own school record in the triple jump with a mark of 11.95 meters, just 0.02 off of posting a provisional qualifying mark herself in the event.
The trip to California has Hillsdale in a good position as it hits the stretch run for its season. Hillsdale now returns home for its first ever home meet at the program's brand new outdoor track facility at Hayden Park in Hillsdale, Michigan. That meet is scheduled to begin at noon on Saturday.
Photo by David Beach