The Hillsdale men’s track and field team hosted Trine University and Adrian College at the 2023 Hillsdale Tune Up Meet Feb. 18. The tri-meet served as a warm-up for the NCAA DII Indoor Championships, which will be held at Ashland University this weekend.

Sophomore Ben Haas continued his stellar season by finishing first in the weight throw event. Haas nearly tied his personal best of 20.16m in the weight throw at 20.10m, and his 20.16m mark from the Tiffin Open keeps him in the top 10 in Division II.

“Indoor season has gone incredibly well so far.” Haas said, “I’ve felt better and better each day and feel really good going into conference.”

Sophomore Isaac Doughty also competed in the weight throw event for Hillsdale, finishing ninth at 13.01m.

In the high jump event, sophomore Cass Dobrowloski and senior Charlie Andrews finished first and second. Dobrowolski’s highest jump was right at the 2.00m mark, while Andrews topped out at 1.95m. Senior John Baldwin also competed in the high jump, finishing fifth at 1.90m.

“This weekend was a solid warm-up for the Conference meet next week,” Dobrowolski said, “I’m excited to finish off a great indoor season with a bang.”

Last year, Dowbrowloski finished second in the high jump at the indoor G-MAC conference meet at 2.05m, and took first place in the outdoor meet at 2.12m.

Dowbrowloski also set a personal best in the 60m hurdles event at 8.55 seconds, which was good for third place. Baldwin and freshman Colsen Conway took first and second in the event, finishing at 8.38 and 8.39 seconds.

Sophomore Alfonso Garcia was the only Hillsdale participant in the triple jump on Saturday, and finished at 12.56m. Freshman Connor McCormick was also the only Hillsdale participant in the pole vault, clearing 4.51m, which was good enough for first place.

On the track, Hillsdale took the first four places in the 400m dash. Senior Benu Meintjes, sophomore Maliq Brock, senior Joseph Ritzer, and freshman Colsen Conway finished 1-2-3-4, with Meintjes finishing at 50.190, and Brock finishing at 50.24. Brock set a personal best with his time.

“Setting a PR going into conference feels really good.” Brock said, “I hope I can do even better this weekend.”

In the 60m dash, juniors Dagur Einarsson and Owen Gardner finished first and second with times of 6.97 and 7.13 seconds. Gardner also set a personal best in the preliminary run at 7.07 seconds.

Another victory for the Chargers came from freshman Nathaniel Osborne, who won the 5,000m run with a time of 15:43.8. Freshman Emil Schlueter and junior Caleb Oser took sixth and eighth in the 5000m run as well.

The Chargers will look to improve upon a fourth place finish in last year’s indoor G-MAC Conference meet at Ashland University Feb. 24-25. Any qualifying athletes will get to go to the NCAA DII Indoor Championship meet, which will begin March 10 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.