800 Athletes compete at Wide Track Classic; Distance teams shine for women’s track

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800 Athletes compete at Wide Track Classic; Distance teams shine for women’s track
Hillsdale College hosted more than 800 athletes at this weekend’s Wide Track Classic. (Photo: Carmel Kookogey | Collegian)

Senior Hannah McIntyre led the women’s track team to victory in the mile race, the second distance victory in two weeks. McIntyre finished in 4:49.6. Junior Ally Eads, close behind, finished in second place with a time of 4:59.67. Freshman Christina Sawyer came in fifth and Addison Rauch, a sophomore, finished in 10th place.

“My whole goal has been to go in and break five,” Eads said. “And this time I told myself I had to do it, and that’s what happened.”

She said the weekend was “huge” for the distance team, praising her teammates.

Freshman Maryssa Depies took second in the 3,000 meter with a time of 9:50, a personal record. Depies raced late in the evening, giving the event an unusual and less nerve-racking environment.

“There was an awesome atmosphere,” Depies said. “There were a lot of people there. Our team’s really good at supporting each other, so there was a lot of that going on.”

Depies also made provisional marks, finishing second in the 3,000 meter, and Kyleigh Edwards, also a freshman, took fourth place in the same race.

The Wide Track Classic, a two-day meet, is more competitive than meets earlier in the season, including teams from Eastern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, and Academy of Art, an arts school in San Francisco, and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Head Coach Andrew Towne said each meet in the season is more significant than the last.

“It’s developed into our bigger meet of the indoor season,” Towne said.“…Overall it was a really competitive meet in most spots for us, which is good.”

Senior Rachael Tolsma continued to distinguish herself in throwing, taking third place with a distance of 17.76 meters in the weight throw.

In the 200 meter sprint, freshman Zoe Eby made an NCAA provisional time, finishing in 25.1 seconds. Senior Ashlee Moran won her flight of the race in 25.68 seconds. Moran and Eby, along with senior Victoria Wichmann and freshman Carmen Botha finished second in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:54.32.

Depies said that transitioning from highschool, where she didn’t experience competition, to Hillsdale has been a good adjustment.

“It’s cool to see us all succeed together,” she said.  “Every one of us who ran the 3,000 meter PR’d by 20 seconds.”

Saturday, the team will be heading back to Grand Valley State University, the last full team meet until the team competes in the G-MACs in three weeks.