The Hillsdale College men’s and women’s track teams traveled to Grand Valley State University to compete in one last meet before conference.
Although Hillsdale rested some athletes in preparation for GLIACs, the athletes that did run at the GVSU Tune-Up meet were generally successful.
“I had people rest to give them a week off to get mentally prepared [for the conference meet], but those who did run set personal records,” assistant coach Amanda Mirochna said.
Sophomore Matt Raffin broke a school record not just once, but twice this past weekend.
Raffin took first overall with a record breaking time of 8.38 in the 60-meter hurdles after running an 8.44 in prelims. Sophomore Elliot Murphy finished second place at 8.52, the exact time of the record before it was broken.
Senior Nate English also set a school record in the shot put after throwing 17.83 meters. This toss gave him second place in the meet and moved him up to fifth in the nation. Although he has yet to automatically qualify, he is the highest provisionally qualified thrower.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team, made up of senior Michael Finch, sophomore Maurice Jones, senior Skylar Dooley and sophomore Jared Van Dyke, provisionally qualified at 3:18.06 and finished second overall.
Dooley won the 200-meter dash in 22.12, edging out four Grand Valley sprinters.
High jumper sophomore Justin Fawley set the bar with a first-place mark of 1.96 meters.
Juniors Kayla Caldwell and Adrianna Yancho both narrowly missed provisional qualifying marks – Caldwell was .2 off in the 200 and Yancho missed in the high jump by .04 meters.
Senior Chelsea Wackernagel took second in the pole vault with a height of 3.62 meters. Senior Cat Nass provisionally qualified and took fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 17.74 meters.
Head women’s coach Andrew Towne said that it is the time of year that everyone’s body is feeling good and they are excited for GLIACs.
“There will be a lot of energy,” senior Jeff Wysong said. “It will be like running through a tunnel because the inside and outside of the track will be lined with people.”
One team that Towne hopes will be using the energy of conference to improve their time is the women’s 4×400-meters team. Towne said they have already provisionally qualified but will need to shed a few seconds in order to secure a chance at nationals.
