On Friday and Saturday, February 11th and 12th, the Hillsdale College women’s track team competed at the Grand Valley State University Big meet and Reggie Cleveland Invitational. On Friday the team had 4 members place in the 200, 400, and 5000 meter runs.
Head Coach Andrew Towne stated he was pleased with the performances by freshmen Elizabeth Wamsley and Katie Sayles, as well as the distance medley team.
“Both of them I think in the right situation can run faster and do really well, but I was really happy with those two performances,” Towne said.
To start out, Junior Zalonya Eby took 18th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.17.
Freshman Shura Ermakov took 19th in the 400 meter dash with a time of 57.96, the fifth-fastest time in the G-MAC this year. Ermakov was followed by freshman Reese Dragovich who finished 30th place with a time of 58.69.
In the 5000 meter run Wamsley took 11th finishing with a time of 16:54.92. Her time, her second provisional qualifying mark, was the second-fastest time in G-MAC, and the 17th fastest at the national Division II level.
On Saturday, the Chargers continued to excel as Ermakov, Dragovich, and sophomores Gwynne Riley and Meg Scheske took eighth in the distance medley, improving on yet another provisional mark.
Freshman Katie Sayles finished first in the weight throw making a distance of 18.09 meters. This score allowed Sayles to move up to the 17th provisional mark in DII. Sayles also made fourth in shot put throwing a distance of 13.09 meters. Following closely behind Sayles, sophomore Juliet Bernard and freshman Averi Parker took third in the weight throw with distances of 17.02 meters. Parker and Bernard also took third in shot put with distances of 13.40 meters, tying for a second time.
Freshman Morgan Iverson had a career best in pole vaulting, improving her provisional mark by reaching a height of 3.75 meters.
Iverson said the event was fairly small and that she mainly competed with pole vaulters she knew from high school.
“So, I was very comfortable, I was having fun and felt in my element,” Iverson said. “Everyone was supportive and I knew my teammates were around cheering me on, so it was a blast.”
Iverson said she didn’t have a great start to the event as she struggled to vault during warm ups.
“But coach told me I was fine and I’d do well, so I trusted him,” Iverson said. “Afterwards I felt great, pleased with my performance. However, there are certainly some things I need to work on if I want to do well at G-MACs and qualify for nationals.”
Iverson said her goal is to keep climbing the National Provisional list and qualify for Nationals in March.
Iverson was followed closely by freshman Katie Clifford who had a height of 3.60 meters. Clifford said this past meet did not go as well as she hoped but was excited to see her teammates do well.
“During my warm-ups and through most of the event I felt very good, fast, smooth, and intentional,” Clifford said. “Before the event I was a little nervous, per usual. After the event I was slightly disappointed in my performance as I hoped for a much better mark this past Saturday in wanting to move myself up on the provisional list for nationals.”
Clifford said her goal at every meet is to clear the height on the first try and her biggest challenge at this meet was not performing to her full capabilities.
Junior Emily Gerdin took first in the triple jump with a distance of 11.40 meters and also took fifth in the long jump, making a distance of 5.29 meters.
Freshman Reagan Dalqhuist took third in the high jump reaching a height of 1.67 meters. Not far behind Dahlquist, senior Alexie Day took fourth reaching a height of 1.62 meters.
In the 400 meter dash, freshman Josee Behling took first with a time of 58.97 seconds. Behling was followed by sophomore Isabella Gutierrez who finished second with a time of 1:01.46 minutes.
Freshman Nicole Marshall won the 800 meter run with a time of 2:23.14 minutes. In the 200 meter dash, Gutierrez took fourth with a time of 26.49 seconds.
Sophomore Louisa Klaserner made fourth in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.06 seconds, reaching a new personal best.
In the 1 mile run freshman Abby Scherer took third with a time of 5:18.36 minutes. Scherer was followed by junior Kaitlyn Rust who finished fourth with a time of 5:19.94 minutes.
The Chargers will go on to compete at the Hillsdale Tune Up on Saturday Feb. 19, with the G-MAC Indoor Championships the following week in Findlay, Ohio.
“I think any time you have a big challenge in front of you it gives you an opportunity to do even bigger things yourself,” Towne said. “So we’re really looking forward to the competition at championships.”
