Hillsdale’s track and field team continued to make strides as they traveled to the Bob Kahn Invite at Oberlin College in Ohio this past Saturday. Only part of the Charger contingent traveled to the meet with distance and middle-distance runners having the weekend off.
Head coach Andrew Towne highlighted freshman long-sprinter, Lane White, and freshman thrower, Rachel Tolsma, as standout athletes from the meet. Each respective athlete received the team’s “Athlete of the Week” award.
“Outdoors is a different season, it’s a bit of a transition, and I think he’s making that transition quickly,” Towne said of White.
Throwing coach Janine Kuestner, who is Tolsma’s event coach, was excited to see how quickly Tolsma has progressed in an event she just began competing in this year.
Towne was also impressed with Tolsma, calling her “the third-best freshman that we’ve ever had,” after she finished third in the hammer throw in just under 48 meters.
In addition to the impressive performances by White and Tolsma, a number of other Chargers also excelled at the meet.
Sophomore Maddie Estell placed second in the high jump and won the triple jump with a jump of 11.01 meters.
Sophomore Dana Newell threw 48.78 meters in the hammer throw, placing ahead of Tolsma.
Freshman Jared Schipper bounced back from his last meet, winning the pole vault in 4.90 meters.
After not competing in the last few track meets due to sickness and injury, freshman Hannah Watts placed second in debut meet, running the 800 meter in 2:22.
Hillsdale’s All-Americans, junior Corinne Zehner (1:03.1) and senior Maurice Jones (53.35), won the women’s and men’s 400 meter hurdles respectively.
According to senior sprinter Zach Meyer, because meet officials didn’t move the 100-meter dash from the home straight, times were slow as athletes were forced to face strong headwinds on the straightaway.
Jumps and short-sprints coach Nate Miller is happy with how his athletes are doing at this point in the season.
“They’re feeling strong, they’re feeling capable right now — mentally and physically,” Miller said. “It’s been a long year and this is probably the strongest group I’ve had mentally, where they’re not burnt out — they’re ready to roll.”
Miller was also happy with how many of the athletes in his event group have improved since the GLIAC conference indoor track meet.
“I’ve seen big improvements,” Miller said. “I feel like the athletes are becoming more confident and they’re able to evaluate themselves better. They’re more independent, and when that happens the athlete starts really improving.”
It is very important for track and field athletes to be able to evaluate their performance to make sure they’re using the most efficient running form and following their racing plans faithfully. Even short-sprinters, who may only be racing for 11 seconds in the 100-meter dash, focus on race strategy.
Towne believes what he calls “race distribution,” is what sets Hillsdale’s athlete’s apart from the athletes at other schools. After every sprinter’s race, Towne works with them to break down their performance, so they can maximize their body’s potential.
“We have certain things in each race in terms of how we approach it — where we do certain things in the race — they all come into play,” Towne said.
The team was originally scheduled to travel to Michigan State University for their meet last weekend, but had to switch meets as MSU’s track is still being prepared for the Big Ten outdoor track conference meet.
“It wasn’t where we intended to go, but sometimes the places you intended to go make changes, and you have to make changes,” Towne said. “We were able to find that meet and it suited some of the needs we had in terms of competing.”
This Saturday the Chargers will host the Hillsdale Invitation, the first of four home meets this season.