The Hillsdale College Chargers split up and tackled different meets this weekend in order to continue preparation for the upcoming C-MAC Championship meet. The distance crew travelled to Grand Valley State University on Friday where they set multiple personal bests, while the sprints and jumps groups competed at Kent State University and the University of Findlay on Saturday.
Junior Christina Sawyer competed well in the 5000 meter run to take seventh in a highly competitive heat. She set a new indoor personal best by a full 30 seconds with a time of 17:15.15 and ran a NCAA Division II Provisional Mark.
“It was a big PR for me, so that’s exciting,” Sawyer said. “My teammates who ran before me ran really well too so there was a lot of momentum going into the race. Our training has been going really well and it’s just really exciting.”
Her teammate, sophomore Claire McNally, finished second in her heat with a time of 17:39.49. Freshman Meg Scheske ran the race in 17:58.09 and took third in her heat. Sophomore Sophia Maeda finished 24th in her heat with a time of 18:12.40.
In the mile, freshman Gwynne Riley set a personal record running 5:03.44 which earned her eighth in her heat. Sophomore teammate Amber Mango also claimed a personal best with a time of 5:13.29.
In the 3000 meter run, stacked with tough competition, senior Arena Lewis ended 31st with a time of 10:04.33. She was followed closely by teammate junior Maryssa Depies who ran the race in 10:09.35 to place 38th.
At Kent State, junior Calli Townsend competed in the 800 meter run and finished 10th with a time of 2:19.21.
The women’s 4×400 meter relay made of freshman Dakota Stamm, junior Kajsa Johansson, sophomore Alanna O’Leary, and freshman Judith Allison ran a season’s best time of 3:49.38 which qualified as a NCAA Division II Provisional Time.
“I ran a personal best in terms of my split,” O’Leary said. “I wish I would’ve gone faster, but that was how we all felt across the board. It was good for us to collectively get a three second PR and see that as a potential to do really well.”
At the University of Findlay Alumni Classic, freshman Jillian Roney started the day with a nice race in the prelims of the 60 meter hurdles. Roney qualified for finals with a time of 9.35 seconds, but did not compete in the finals. She also ran the the 60 meter dash prelims where she ended 13th with a time of 8.13 seconds. Her teammate, Zoe Eby ran the same race in 8.15 seconds to take 15th.
In the field, the Chargers set several new personal bests. Freshman Emily Gerdin ended fourth with a new personal best after a leap of 5.47 meters in the long jump. She also took second in the triple jump with a jump of 10.91 meters. Senior Carlin MacDonald-Gannon also experienced success taking seventh in the long jump with a personal best of 5.19 meters. She took third in the triple jump with another personal best of 10.75 meters.
In the shot put, Maines led the throwing squad with a fourth place finish in the shot put of 13.84 meters. In the weight throw, she ended with a toss of 16.46 meters and ended fifth.
Sophomore teammate Michaela Burkhauser ended ninth in the shot put with a throw of 12.64 meters. Freshman Katie Weldy took nineteenth in the weight throw with a throw of 12.81 meters.
The Chargers compete next week at home in their Tune Up meet to prepare for the conference.
“For some kids it’s their last chance to get on the travel squad, for some it’s just a time to work on something in particular,” head coach Andrew Towne said. “It’ll just give us a good feel for where we’re at.”