Chargers energetic in first home meet of season

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Chargers energetic in first home meet of season
Junior Alex Oquist competes in Hillsdale’s 2019 indoor Wide Track Classic. (Todd Lancaster | Courtesy)

The Hillsdale College men’s track team’s first home invite of the season was defined by improvement and energy. 

In the field, freshman Charlie Andrews came in second in the high jump with a vertical jump of 1.92 meters. He was followed by junior teammate Ryan Thomsen who finished third with a jump of 1.87 meters. 

Sophomore Ben Raffin took second place in the pole vault with a vault of 4.87 meters.

In the long jump, Senior Ryan Thomsen leapt 6.83 meters to take second. Multi-athlete sophomore John Baldwin came in third jumping 6.78 meters. 

Rounding out field events, freshman Joshua Nichols won the triple jump with a jump of 13.05 meters.

On the track, junior Adam Wade won the 400 meter dash running in 50.68 seconds. Freshman Ian Calvert raced to second with a time of 51. 53 seconds. Freshman Joseph Ritzer placed third with a time of 53.62 seconds. 

“I was feeling kind of sick, so considering that, I ran close to my PR,” Calvert said. “Coach was happy about it, so I was happy about it.”

The distance guys took to the 800 meter dash, led by freshman Sean Hoeft who won with a time of 2:00.08. His teammate Isaac Waffle came in second. Dylan Palmer ran a 2:04.24 and placed fourth.

Hillsdale looked strong in the 3000 meter run as well. Sophomore Adam Wier ran for second place with a personal best time of 8:53.80. 

“Adam was our excellence award winner,” head coach Andrew Towne said. “He ran a nice 3k with a big PR from basically the same time last year.”

Freshman Mark Sprague took third with a time of 9:02.46. He was followed by his teammate, junior Morgan Morrison who ran 9:07.21.

Baldwin shattered his own school record he set the previous week in the 60 meter hurdles. He ran 8.19 seconds and ended second in the race. 

“I had some really good competition in the finals that came out of nowhere,” Baldwin said. “The guy in the lane next to me pushed me and I ran a new personal best. I’m glad primarily just to be consistent and improving.” 

To end the day of competition, the men’s 4×400 meter relay team won with a time of 3:26.36. The team was made of freshman Benu Meintjes, Wade, Calvert, and Baldwin. 

“Our legs were strong and I was happy with my leg of the race,” Calvert said. “It’s a good team.” 

About the meet overall, Towne said, “Nothing blew my mind, but a lot of people are moving in the right direction which is what you need because you can’t go win a conference title with two or three people, you have to have a full team.”

The men’s track team competes next this Saturday at the at GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open in Allendale, MI.