The Hillsdale men’s track team finished sixth overall at the G-MAC indoor conference meet in Ashland, Ohio, Feb. 24-25, and will send two athletes to the National Championship meet. 

Ben Haas became the weight throw G-MAC champion with a distance of 20.88m, now the third longest in DII nationwide. Haas hit a provisional mark, and will be competing in the NCAA DII national indoor championship meet in Virginia Beach, Virginia, March 10. 

Sophomore Maliq Brock set a personal best of 48.41 in the 400m sprint, placing fourth overall and beating his previous record by 1.2 seconds.

“It was a lot of fun to run that day. I had a feeling I’d get a PR but doing it by 1.2 seconds made it even better,” Brock said. “I feel really excited for the outdoor season now because if I can do that on an indoor track, I can’t wait to see how I do on an outdoor track.” 

Brock also competed in the 4x400m relay, with teammates seniors Joseph Ritzer, Benu Meintjes, and freshman Colsen Conway. The relay team finished fifth with a time of 3:19.88.

Also setting a personal best on the track was sophomore Richie Johnston, who finished fourth in the mile race at 4:08.58, which was also a provisional mark. Freshman Seth Jankowski also set a personal best in the 800m run at 1:52.97, which earned him fifth place. 

Sophomore Cass Dobrowolski finished sixth and senior Charlie Andrews took seventh in the high jump event. Dobrowolski cleared 2m, while Andrews finished at 1.95m.  

“It’s the experience that matters at the end of the day, not the height. It’s been a great experience with a great group of people,” Andrews said. “It’s been a great four years of indoor, and I’m excited to start my last outdoor season with this group.”

Also representing the jumps squad was sophomore Alfonso Garcia, who finished 10th in the triple jump event at 12.72m. 

“Indoor season went well with some major PR’s,” Garcia said. “We are now getting ready for outdoors and I feel this team can make a great run at the outdoor conference meet.”

Junior John Baldwin had his best performance of the season in the heptathlon. His second place finish in the 60m hurdle event pushed him from eighth to fifth place overall, with 4,677 total points. 

After Hass competes at nationals, the team will travel to Ceaderville, Ohio, to compete in the Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open March 25 for its first outdoor meet of the season. 

The outdoor season will stretch from late March through May with G-MAC Outdoor Championships May 3-5 and NCAA DII Outdoor Championships May 25-27.