Junior Averi Parker places first in shot put for the Chargers. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale Chargers women’s track and field team returned to the Biermann Athletic Center for their first home meet of the 2024 indoor season.
Strong performances on both the track and in the field led to six event wins along with two NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks.
In the field, the team continued its dominance in the throws events.
In shot put, the Chargers took both first and second place, led by junior All-American Averi Parker with a throw of 13.58 meters. Her throw of 15.18 meters from an earlier meet currently ranks as the third furthest in the country this season. Parker also finished second in the weight throw amidst a Charger sweep of the top five scoring positions.
Senior thrower Katie Sayles, the school record holder and NCAA qualifier in the event, led the way with a throw of 18.65 meters moving up to eighth in the country.
The 60 meter hurdles got the momentum going for the Chargers on the track as all four competitors qualified through to the finals. Senior sprinter Shura Ermakov placed second to lead the Chargers with a time of 8.98 seconds, a personal best. Ermakov enters 2024 as an All-American in the 400 meter hurdles and as the school record holder and NCAA provisional qualifier in the pentathlon, showing great range on the track and in the field.
This range was on display as she went on to win the 800 meter run, beating teammate junior Reese Dragovich down the homestretch to win by 3 hundredths of a second in a race that saw the Chargers take the top eight places.
Ermakov acknowledged that this range is unique, but is all aimed at excelling at her primary event, the 400-meter dash.
“Even though this was an unusual combination of events to compete in, I did it to prepare for my open 400-meter race next week at Ashland,” she said. “The 400 requires a good mix of speed and endurance which the 60-meter hurdles and the 800 gave me the chance to practice both.”
Senior Liz Wamsley returned to the track for her first race of the season coming off a cross-country season where she earned All-American honors, placing 11th overall. She won the 3,000-meter race in a time of 10:06, nearly a minute in front of second place. Wamsley said she was happy with her first performance of the season.
“It was nice to get a feel for pacing and running on the curves as it always takes me a race or two to get used to running on the indoor track again,” she said.
This opening race bodes well for Wamsley as she hopes to return to the indoor national championship meet, where she finished 7th overall in the 5,000m race.
“My goal for the season is to qualify for nationals in the 5k and hopefully set a school record,” Wamsley said.
Second-year head coach R.P. White said he was happy with the overall team performance.
“It was great to compete at home,” he said. “We had some great things happen on the track and in the field.”
Like Ermakov and Wamsley, White said he remains focused on the conference and national championship meets.
“The momentum keeps building as we enter February, where national championship marks are achieved,” White said.
The Chargers will travel to Ashland University next weekend to compete in the Jud Logan Light Giver Invitational where they will get the chance to see the track where the conference championship will be held and improve their conference and national rankings.
