Hillsdale’s women’s track and field team is ranked third overall this week in the NCAA Division II Midwest region. 

Following the Jud Logan Light Giver Open at Ashland on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4, the Chargers took home several victories, including multiple provisional qualifying marks. For the second week in a row, the women’s weight throw team is ranked first among NCAA DII weight throw teams. 

“It was a really good step in the right direction,” head coach R.P. White said. “We had a lot of really good things happen. Not everything goes your way at a big track meet like that, but for the most part, the overarching emphasis was that we’re turning in the right direction as we approach championship season.”

Sophomore Shura Ermakov excelled at the Light Giver Open, hitting the provisional mark in the Open 400 with a time of 55.63. Ermakov and teammates Gwynne Riley, Reese Dragovich, and Meg Scheske, also hit a provisional mark in the women’s 4000 meter distance medley relay with a total time of 11:41.

“My leg on the DMR is the shortest by far, so a lot of success is due to the mile leg, and the 1200 and the 800,” Ermakov said. “It was fairly unexpected for me to PR in the open 400 by a lot. I was just hoping to hit close to the provisional mark.”

Sophomore Reagan Dahlquist said she was impressed by Ermakov’s success.

“What stood out to me was when Shura ran a 55 second 400. That was a crazy personal record for her,” Dahlquist said. “I was shocked, and she was super happy about it.”
Dahlquist placed first in the women’s high jump. She jumped 1.65m, which was her best so far this season. 

“I had been in a little bit of a rut for the first few meets this season,” Dahlquist said. “This meet, it just came together. I was able to execute the stuff we’ve been practicing. All the pieces fit, and I ended up being able to jump a season’s best. I had a miss at one of my heights but I handled that fairly well, and I went ahead and made it on my second attempt at it.”

There were several other standout team members this weekend. Sophomore Katie Sayles took second in the weight throw event, throwing 18.67m. Senior Nikita Maines took fourth in the weight throw, throwing 18.20m. In the women’s shot put, sophomore Averi Parker took second with a throw of 14.52m, while Maines took fourth with a throw of 13.69m. 

White said it’s standard for the throwers to throw for provisional marks. 

In the women’s pole vault, sophomore Morgan Iverson tied for third place with two other opponents, each hitting 3.65m. 

In the 5000m run, junior Natalie Martinson took third with a time of 18:13.09. Fellow distance runners Riley and Scheske took first and second respectively in the 3000m run. Riley finished with a time of 10:01, with Scheske following close behind at 10:08.

In the pentathlon, sophomore Neva Polo took second place overall with an overall score of 3166. Junior Allison Nimtz, who also competed in the pentathlon, took first in the pentathlon shot put with a throw of 10.93.

Sophomore Louisa Klaserner took first in the 60m hurdles, finishing at 8:93.

“Louisa hit a PR in the 60 hurdles, which is not unexpected, but it was cool to watch her do that, especially since she’s been working through a lot with hurdling,” Ermakov said.

Ermakov said the team’s success at this meet was good preparation for competing at Ashland in a few weeks.

“It’s significant that we were able to perform well at Ashland because that’s also where we’re holding conference in 3 weeks,” Ermakov said. “It was good to get a feel of the track there.”