Sprinting down the runway, planting, and then jumping – up, up, up, then over – and senior Chelsea Wackernagel shattered the school record for the indoor track pole vault.
This past weekend, at the University of Findlay Oiler Opener, Wackernagel was not alone in setting school records. Senior Nathan English and sophomores Maurice Jones and Elliot Murphy also broke records in their respective events.
“There was a lot of anticipation [for the meet] — I guess like girls with a new ‘Twilight’ movie. Edward Cullen shot put, let’s go,” English said.
This was the first collegiate meet for freshmen Heather Lantis and Jason Van De Weghe. There were lots of different jerseys there and seeing the different teams from around the state was awesome, said Van De Weghe.
“It was very good and a little intimidating but allowed you to get your feet wet before the bulk of the season,” Lantis said.
Wackernagel won the women’s pole vault with a jump of 12 feet 7.5 inches. The previous record was 12 feet. English was also first for his event by throwing 57 feet 3 inches to provisionally qualify for nationals in shot put.
Juniors Kayla Caldwell and Kathy Dirksen, as well as Jones, also provisionally qualified in their events. Caldwell jumped 11 feet 11.75 inches in the pole vault, Dirksen threw for 57 feet 8.25 inches in the weight throw, and Jones crossed the line at 6.92 seconds in the men’s 60m.
“I don’t know how the conference will view us this year and will probably not expect a lot from us, but I am hoping that the team will be able to surprise them,” said junior Erin Benjamin.
Hillsdale’s roster is not as big as most of the teams in the GLIAC, said women’s head coach Andrew Towne, but where the team lacks in size it makes up in the quality of the athlete.
“We might not be able to put a ton of girls into an event, but we are able to put a better quality athlete into the event,” Towne said.
The meet was a good opener and gave top results a team would look for later in the season, Wackernagel said. It allowed the team to see where they were and what needed to be changed before the next meet.
“I wanted to set a base line,” Van De Weghe said, “that way I know from where to go up and to learn from the experience so that way I know what to work on next week in practice.”
The team’s next meet will be at Saginaw Valley State University.
“It was a solid season opener for us, and Chelsea was especially impressive,” Towne said. “Anytime you can start your season off with a lifetime best, it’s exciting.”
