Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale College women’s track team set several personal bests during the Jud Logan Light Giver Open on Saturday, February 6th.
The meet was originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday but due to weather conditions the meet was pushed to Saturday.
“It was a little bit harder for us on Saturday with everything jammed into one day but at least we still had everything,” Head Coach Andrew Towne said.
Towne said he feels the team is really balanced this season and is excited to see how the team improves.
The Chargers dominated in the distance medley, weight throw, triple jump, high jump, shot put, and 3000-meter run.
In the distance medley, the four member team consisted of sophomores Gwynne Riley and Meg Scheske, along with freshmen Josee Behling and Reese Dragovich. The team took first finishing with a time of 12:01.44 minutes, with the 16th fastest time in the relay in Division II.
In the weight throwing event, junior Nakita Maines took first throwing a distance of 18.99 meters, a new personal best. Maines was followed by freshman Katie Sayles, who took fourth throwing a distance of 17.90 meters.
Sophomore Emily Gerdin took first in the triple jump, reaching a distance of 11.53 meters.
Gerdin said she redirected her nerves for the meet to excitement because the meet was so big and she wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I was really focusing on being aggressive in my jumps and fine tuning different aspects of the jump,” Gerdin said.
Gerdin also said her biggest challenge was dealing with a hurting ankle.
“I didn’t end up jumping what I wanted to but I had a season best and was .03 centimeters off my lifetime personal best, so I can’t complain,” Gerdin said.
Gerdin said she is hoping to jump 12 meters or more and hit a provisional mark and set a school record.
Finishing strong again from last week, Reagan Dahlquist took third in the high jump reaching a height of 1.65 meters.
Dahlquist was followed by junior Alexie Day who finished tenth with a height of 1.55 meters.
In the shot put event Maines continued to excel as she took third finishing with a distance of 14.37 meters. Maines was followed by Sayles again who took eighth reaching a distance of 12.77 meters.
In the 3000 meter run freshman Elizabeth Wamsley took fourth finishing with a time of 9:44.87, the 11th fastest time in G-MAC history in this event.
Wamsley, who earned G-MAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, said her goal for this race was to set a good pace and to beat her seed time of 9:50 minutes.
“During the race, I was just trying to settle into an aggressive, but sustainable pace,” Wamsley said. “I had feedback from my coach at every lap, so that was helpful to focus on as well as the cheering from my teammates.”
Wamsley also said that her biggest challenge was finding a good pace and holding that pace for the needed time.
“I was pretty nervous beforehand,” Wamsley said. “Originally, I was supposed to run a 5k that weekend, but the plan changed last minute. Because of this, I felt less mentally prepared for the 3k. It helped to have a goal and plan in mind though.”
Placing in the 400 meter dash, freshman Shura Ermakov took fifth with a time of 58.15 seconds.
In the 200 meter dash, sophomore Dakota Stamm took sixth finishing with a time of 25.58 seconds.
In the 60 meter hurdles Freshman Louisa Klaserner took seventh with a time of 9.16 seconds. Klaserner was followed closely by sophomore Judith Allison who finished eighth with a time of 9.31 seconds.
In the 800 meter run freshman Nicole Marshall took eighth with a personal best time of 2:17.49 minutes, followed by sophomore Kaitlyn Rust taking ninth and finishing with a time of 2:17.58.
In the 1 mile run freshman Abby Scherer placed tenth with a time of 5:06.89 minutes.
In the 5000 meter run sophomore Natilie Martinson took twelfth with a time of 18:50.32 minutes.
In pole vaulting, freshman Katie Clifford placed seventh with a height of 3.70 meters.
Clifford was followed by freshman Mogan Iverson in ninth with a height of 3.70 meters.
The Chargers now move onto the Grand Valley State University Big Meet on Friday, and the Tiffin Dragon Invite on Saturday.
