The Hillsdale College track and field team competed at Indiana Wesleyan University’s Polar Bear Invitational on March 23, marking the beginning of their outdoor season.
While the rest of the student body had the week off for Spring Break, the Chargers used the opportunity to make the transition from indoor to outdoor season.
The team was originally scheduled to attend a meet at Vanderbilt University. The weather in Indiana, however, was actually warmer. Along with the realization that traveling to Indiana instead of Tennessee would be less costly, the coaching staff decided to take the team to Indiana, head coach Jeff Forino said.
One of the standout athletes of the meet was junior John Banovetz, Forino said.
Competing in all three throwing events, Banovetz placed first with a lifetime best in the hammer throw and second in both the shot put and the discus. Junior Brett Dailey also took fourth in the hammer throw.
Sophomore Joshua Mirth easily took first in the 5000-meter run, winning by 12 seconds. He also helped set the pace for teammate sophomore Luke Hickman, who finished second.
“He was just so far ahead, it wasn’t even funny,” Forino said.
Juniors Matt Raffin and Elliot Murphy, after spending the outdoor season breaking each other’s records, finished first and second respectively with less than a second between them in the 400-meter hurdles.
The team missed a few of its key members, who are injured. Forino said that he will look to the freshman and sophomores “to step it up,” during the season to account for the loss.
For the women, freshman Danielle Gagne stole first in the 200-meter dash with a lifetime best of 25.43 seconds. Freshman Corinne Zehner also took first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.74 seconds.
Senior Erin Benjamin won first place in the 400-meter dash, closely followed by sophomore Elise Byron.
Junior Amber Mueller placed second in the Javelin throw, and teammate senior Kathy Dirksen won second in shot put. Sophomore Heather Lantis threw a lifetime best in the discus and took fourth.
Both the 4×4 relay and the 4×1 relays took first place.
Women’s head coach Andrew Towne said he still sees the improvements the team can make.
“The relays weren’t super competitive,” he said. “We ran our slowest times of the year and still won.”
Next week, the Chargers will compete at the Spartan Invitational at Eastern Michigan University. Bad weather could influence the team’s results, Towne said.
“It’s easier to compete indoors because the conditions are always the same,” he said. “The weather and wind can influence both the runners and the field events.”
