Putt, senior Jen Shaffer, and sophomore Maurice Jones earned their All-American awards on the track. Seniors Nate English and Chelsea Wackernagel, along with juniors Kayla Caldwell and Kathy Dirksen, earned theirs in the field.
Putt, who is now a five-time All-American, competed in both the 800-meter run and the mile-run. Not to be satisfied with top-eight finishes, Putt won both events and was the only DII athlete to be a dual champion. She is on her way to finishing her collegiate career as one of the most decorated athletes in Hillsdale College history.
In the last lap of the 800, Putt was sitting trailing Grand Valley State University’s Chanelle Caldwell. But then she heard the race announcer say she was going to make a move.
So she did.
“I didn’t even know that I was going to make a move,” Putt said. “But then I noticed that she was slowing down and thought, ‘Why not go for it?’”
Putt went around the GVSU runner and won the race in a time of 2:11.12. She would later win the mile in 4:53.59.
After the race was taken out slow, Putt closed the last 800 with a 2:15 split – closing the last quarter in 62.
“People don’t see that a lot,” Kayla Caldwell said of Putt’s wins. “You don’t just turn around from one event and go win another.”
Head women’s coach Andrew Towne said Putt competed with “confidence, courage, and determination.”
“Because of that, she has placed herself in a very elite group as a Charger national champion,” Towne said. “I couldn’t be happier for her.”
Putt accounted for 20 of the Hillsdale women’s 33 points. They went on to place fifth in the meet, edging out Grand Canyon University by one point. The Grand Valley State University women won the meet with 94 points.
“We scored points that we should haven’t, and I told the girls on Saturday night that there was not anything else that the team could have done,” Towne said.
Shaffer competed in the 800 alongside Putt. She finished eighth in the race with at time of 2:12.06. She broke her previously fastest indoor 800 time – first in the prelims and then again in finals.
“I was completely elated,” Shaffer said.
Dirksen placed fourth in the weight throw at nationals last year. This year she threw the exact same distance but finished seventh with a toss of 18.41 meters.
“I was just so excited to get All-American,” Dirksen said, “even when I was not even suppose to according to the rankings.”
The Hillsdale women got two All-American spots in the pole vault. Kayla Caldwell placed second with a vault of 4.0 meters. She had led until the last jump when GVSU sophomore Kristen Hixson cleared 4.0 meters on her first try. Wackernagel placed seventh at 3.80 meters.
“It was nice, but definitely disappointing,” Kayla Caldwell said of coming in second. “I basically tied for first, however, she beat me on a technicality because she was able to clear the bar on the first jump.”
The men placed 31st in the meet with 4 points. Jones represented the men in the 400-meter run and English in the shot put.
“There was really no way that the two of us would have been able to win it all,” English said. “I am just proud of how well we were able to do.”
Jones finished sixth in a time of 48.15 and broke the school record again after breaking it at conference. Men’s head coach Jeff Forino said that after the prelims, Jones realized that no one was unbeatable.
“With everyone doing so well,” Jones said, “I wanted to show that Hillsdale was a force to be reckoned with.”
