The Hillsdale College track and field team did overtime in Ohio this weekend, competing in both the Findlay Open Meet on Friday and the Division II Challenge on Saturday.
The women’s team captured four first places and two second places at the Findlay Open. The men’s team took first and second place in the 200-meter dash, and first, second, and third in the mile.
As Head Coach Jeff Forino predicted, the women’s field events have had enough training after winter break to begin scoring top points.
Senior Adrianna Yancho won the high jump after leaping to 1.68 meters.
“Andy tied her personal record,” head women’s coach Andrew Towne said. “It was the biggest highlight for us.”
Senior thrower Kathy Dirksen also took first place in the shot put with a toss of 13.17 meters. Senior Kayla Caldwell continued her winning streak by pole-vaulting a height of 4 meters.
The 4×400 relay team also captured first place with a time of 3:58.85. The team consisted of senior Erin Benjamin, freshman Erin Gagne, freshman Corinne Zehner, and senior Becky Caywood.
Sophomore Amy Kerst took second in the 400-meter, running 1:00.37. Close behind was freshman Francesca Krohn, who took fourth with a time of 1:01.76.
Despite the team’s high placing, junior captain Victoria McCaffery said the meet was not the team’s biggest accomplishment.
“It was not a big meet and there wasn’t a lot of competition,” she said. “It was a tune-up for this upcoming weekend. This meet was to get our legs going.”
On the men’s side, junior Luke Hickman grabbed first place in the mile with a time of 4:22.18. Hickman finished shortly before his two other teammates, junior Josh Mirth and freshman John Bell.
“These kids have put in a lot of work, and we’re starting to see it,” Forino said.
In the 200-meter dash, Hillsdale succeeded in taking four top positions, with each runner finishing within .7 seconds of the others. Junior Maurice Jones won the event with a time of 22.3 seconds. Sophomore Alex Mexicotte took third, senior Michael Shaw fourth, and junior Zachary Meyer sixth.
The 4×400 relay won second place with a time of 3:23.74. The team featured Jones, juniors Jared Van Dyke, Matt Raffin, and Elliot Murphy.
Football player freshman Todd Frickey took fourth in the 60. Sophomore Matthew Perkins took second in the 800, and Raffin and Murphy took fourth and fifth respectively in the 60-meter hurdles.
At Saturday’s Division II Challenge in Geneva, Ohio, the 4×400 meter women’s relay took seventh place.
For the men’s team, Mexicotte took fourth in the 200-meter, running a time of 22.23 seconds. The 4×400 meter team of Jones, Van Dyke, Raffin, and Murphy placed fourth at the meet.
On Feb. 8 and 9, the team will compete in two competitions. For shorter distance male runners, Hillsdale will compete at the Valentine Invitational in Boston, Mass. The team will also have the opportunity to practice on Harvard University’s track, McCaffrey said.
“It’s going to be a pretty full week,” she added.
The longer distance runners will compete at the Grand Valley State University Big Meet.
“We are starting to come around,” Forino said. “You’re going to see a lot of good things.”