Senior Louisa Klaserner broke the school’s 60m hurdles record. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

The women’s track and field team broke school records and earned provisional rankings at the G-MAC conference championships at Ashland University over the weekend. 

Multiple girls qualified for the upcoming NCAA Division II championships in March. 

Among them were senior Liz Wamsley, senior Shura Ermakov, junior Averi Parker, senior Katie Sayles, and senior Katie Wedly. 

Ermakov set a new school record and scored a personal best in the open 400 meter dash, the first woman in the college’s history to finish in under 55 seconds with a time of 54.76. 

“I did win the 400m dash, and the hope is to make it in the top eight for All-American status in March,” she said. 

Ermakov now ranks 13th in provisional rankings securing her spot in the NCAA Division II championships. 

“Division II national qualifications usually take the top 18 on the provisional list,” Ermakov said. 

In addition to Ermakov’s record, senior Louisa Klaserner broke the college’s previous record in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.65. 

Klaserner took 22nd in provisional rankings, with Ermakov close behind at 26th. 

“A few of us were looking for some fast times, but I don’t know that breaking school records on the women’s side was expected at all,” Klaserner said.

Wamsley, took first place in both the 3,000m and 5,000m, ranking 41st provisionally for the 3,000m. 

Wamsley, although unlikely to run the 3,000m at NCAA DII championships, will compete in the 5,000m event in March. 

“I am ranked 15th in the 3,000m race, so I will likely be running the 3,000m at nationals,” she said. 

The Chargers took third overall, behind Ashland University and University of Findlay.

“Taking third place was expected, and although we weren’t necessarily satisfied with it, it’s hard to win when we are working with a smaller team than Ashland or Findlay,” Ermakov said. 

Hillsdale’s success was an unexpected surprise with three record breaks and high provisional qualifiers, Wamsley said. 

Ermakov, Klaserner, and junior Neva Polo, who scored a record 3,482 points in the pentathlon, returned from G-MAC championships with school record titles. 

“It was very exciting to witness Shura, Louisa, and Neva to be as successful as they were at conference. I think that definitely made the atmosphere at conference all the more fun and inspiring,” Wamsley said. 

As the Chargers look ahead toward NCAA Division II championships in March, the focus is to recover from conference and prep those who qualified for nationals. 

“The next two weeks will be training as usual with an emphasis on recovering from conference,” Wamsley said. “You just have to do the work and trust that all the preparation this season will pay off when the time comes.”