The women’s track team split this weekend. Those remaining in Michigan competed in the Al Owens Classic hosted by Grand Valley State University. Meanwhile, some had a whirlwind of a weekend on the West Coast: Three days and three meets in California gave the team ample time to show its skill.
There, the Chargers competed with professional and Division I athletes. Senior Hannah McIntyre said the meet was huge and that athletes go there to challenge themselves.
McIntyre said about 500 athletes competed in the 15k at Asuza Pacific.
“It’s definitely a different atmosphere, Just kind of West Coast atmosphere, big meets, is totally different from the Midwest,” she said.
McIntyre competed well in the 10k at Mount San Antonio College on Thursday night, racing under the lights. Her performance made her hopeful for Nationals qualification.
“It went well. It was a solid race, and I did what I was planning on doing,” she said. “It wasn’t an amazing time, but it should be enough to qualify me for Nationals and it was a solid race. I was happy with it.”
Senior Amanda Reagle broke her personal record in an event she just started running this year, and junior Allyson Eads almost reached a PR in the steeplechase.
“My friend Amanda Reagle had a major PR and that was really awesome,” McIntyre said. “She ran really really well in the 5k. She kind of just started trying that out just this last season of her senior year and she just totally killed it.”
Eads competed in two of the weekend’s meets, at Asuza Pacific and Long Beach State University. She said her focus was Asuza, where she competed in the steeplechase.
“It went well. I ran a second off my PR,” she said. “I ran a 10:34, which should get me into Nationals, just traditionally, the times that make it.”
Seniors Ashlee Moran and Fiona Shea, and freshmen Kasja Johansson and Zoe Eby made a provo time, 46.88, at Long Beach State. Senior Alexandra Whitford made good marks in the pole vault.
McIntyre said that even though some of her teammates struggled, the meet offered an opportunity for the team to gain experience.
“That’s all part of the experience, especially freshman year, because those meets are late and they’re intense and it’s a lot to adjust just physically with the time differences and traveling and it can just be a lot to adjust to,” she said. “And so a lot of the girls, everybody accept Arena and I doubled back on Saturday and competed in 1500s.”
But she did compete in the long run.
“We ran to the beach and ran on the beach, and that was really good. So it was a special trip,” McIntyre said. “It can be a really cool, really unique experience that you don’t always get at regular meets here at home.”
This weekend, Hillsdale is hosting the 52nd Annual Hillsdale College Gina Relays, which Eads said was her favorite meet. While the team had to catch up on rest after the three-hour time change last weekend, Eads said it won’t impact this weekend’s race.