The Hillsdale College men’s and women’s track and field teams maintained their consistently strong, promising performances and set two new school records on Friday, Feb. 5 at the Hillsdale Wide Classic.
“It was another really good step, probably our best overall meet of the year,” said head coach Andrew Towne. “There’s certainly more we need to do to be where we want to be, but it was a really nice step.”
Junior Nikita Maines continued her streak of excellence and won the weight throw with 17.42 meters and the shot put with a mark of 14.77 meters, breaking her own previous school record. Hillsdale throwers took third through sixth place in the event as well.
Senior Kajsa Johansson also set a new school record and won the coaches’ Athlete of the Meet when she ran 7.60 seconds in the 60 meter dash, taking first and breaking her previous school record of 7.65 seconds. She also received the G-MAC Track & Field Athlete of the Week award for the second week in a row.
“I obviously want to make it to nationals and make finals, All-American, stuff like that,” Johansson said. “For my 4×4, I want the same. So far we’ve run a pretty good time, so we should be in a pretty decent spot at this point.”
The Chargers stood out in the 200 meter dash as well. Sophomore Dakota Stamm led the pack in 26.02 seconds, a new personal best. Junior Zalonya Eby finished right behind in third in 26.24 seconds.
Junior Alexie Day took first in the high jump with 1.54m, and freshman Louisa Klaserner won her first pentathlon with 2621 points.
The 4x400m relay team traveled to Grand Valley State University on Saturday, Feb. 6 to compete as well. Freshman Shura Ermakov, Stamm, junior Alanna O’Leary, and Johansson finished second with a time of 3:48.47.
“We’re at a good point in the season. I think everything is coming together really well with the rest of our team,” Johansson said.
On the men’s side, sophomores Ian Calvert and Joseph Ritzer took first and second in the 400 meter dash in 50.89 and 54.26 seconds, respectively. Calvert was later named the coaches’ Athlete of the Meet.
“There’s a lot of talent on the team, and to get that sort of title, I am completely honored,” Calvert said. “It’s pretty incredible. I didn’t expect to get it this early.”
Earlier in the year, a foot injury forced Calvert to slow down in his training. Setting a new personal record on Friday and being added to the 4x400m relay A-team has really encouraged him, he said.
“It’s been a road to improvement, but with the help of Coach Towne and some motivation, I’ve been able to make it back to where I want to be,” Calvert said. “Now I’m setting myself up for a good position to go even further.”
Sophomore Charlie Andrews took first in the high jump at 1.83 meters, and junior Ben Raffin was first in the pole vault at 4.80 meters. Sophomore Joshua Nichols also took first place in the triple jump with a mark of 13.30 meters.
In the sprints, the 200 meter dash proved to be highly competitive with five runners finishing within one-tenth of a second from one another. Freshman Jamahl Burke took third overall and first for Hillsdale, crossing the line in 22.72 seconds, and fellow freshman Sean Fagan finished in fourth in 22.73 seconds.
The men’s 4x400m relay team joined the women at GVSU on Saturday. Burke, Fagan, sophomore Benu Meintjes, and senior Adam Wade finished second at 3:17.20.
“Last year we did a really good job, but I think we have an even more heightened sense of, ‘Hey, this is what we want to accomplish this year, given what happened last year,’” Towne said. “I see a lot more kids competing with a lot more urgency.”
The Chargers will split into two groups this weekend. Some athletes will travel to Allendale, Michigan, for Grand Valley’s Big Meet on Friday, Feb. 12, the others will travel to the University of Findlay on Feb. 13.