Following a two-week break, the Hillsdale College men and women’s track teams began the last five weeks of the 2013 outdoor season, competing at the Michigan State University Spartan Invitational on April 6.
Forced to run into the wind and compete in cold weather, the team had few personal records, but maintained position with the rest of the teams at the meet, head coach Jeff Forino said. Many of the teams at the meet participate in Division I Leagues, including host MSU, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Notre Dame, and others.
On the women’s side, Senior Kayla Caldwell once again broke her own school record in the pole vault, with a height of 14 feet, 2 inches earning her not only first place, but also the record for the third-best pole vault in Division II history. On Monday night, Caldwell was announced as the athlete of the week by both the GLIAC and the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Caldwell also ran a strong 200-meter dash, with a time of 25.59, women’s head coach Andrew Towne said.
Freshman Danielle Gagne, called “one of the stand-out athletes at the meet” by Towne, scored one place ahead of Caldwell in the 200-meter. She ran a time of 25.5 and took 17th place.
Freshman teammate Corinne Zehner scored 12th in the 400-meter hurdles, running the race in 1:06.91. Senior Adrianna Yancho tied for second in the high jump, clearing 5-3.
For the throwers, Junior Amber Mueller took seventh in the javelin throw and 12th in the discus. Senior Kathy Dirksen took sixth place in the shot put with a throw of 40-6.
The 4×100 relay team managed to take fourth overall with a time of 49.6.
Sophomore Joshua Mirth placed second in the 5000-meter run, with a time of 14:46.78. Teammate Freshman Nick Schuster won fifth in the high jump with a height of 6-5.
Hurdlers Elliot Murphy and Matt Raffin continued their season-long pattern of competing at the same level. Raffin took fifth in the 400-hurdle event and seventh in the 110-hurdle event. Murphy, however, stole fourth this week in the 110-hurdles, running a time of 15.07 seconds.
“Even in bad weather, both Raffin and Murphy are way ahead of where they were last year,” Forino said. “I’m excited to see where they will be later in the season.”
Sophomore Luke Hickman ran his way to seventh place in the 3000-meter steeplechase, with a time of 9:45.8. The steeplechase is an exclusively outdoor track event.
Junior thrower John Banovetz captured sixth in the discus and fourth in the shot put.
“For guys like Banovetz, even a bad day is pretty good,” Forino said.
The Chargers will have the home-field advantage on Saturday April 13 as they will host the meet at the Ken Herrick track.
“We always perform better at our track. The athletes are more comfortable,” Towne said.
