The Charger track and field women placed third overall at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championships at Ashland University Feb. 28-March 1, ending the weekend with seven top-three finishes for the women and three top-three finishes for the men. Hillsdale will send senior Cass Dobrowolski, senior Ben Haas, freshman Evyn Humphrey, senior Katie Sayles, and junior Tara Townsend to the  NCAA Division II championships March 13-15 in Indianapolis.

The women’s team placed third in the G-MAC with 114 points and the men’s team placed seventh with 32 points.

Freshman Baelyn Zitzmann placed first overall in the indoor pentathlon with 3,560 points. Zitzmann also placed third in the pentathlon 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.06 seconds and tied for first in the pentathlon high jump with a mark of 1.62 meters. She also won the pentathlon 800-meter run with a time of 2:22.17, earning her a new school record in the pentathlon overall and the first championship medal of the meet for the Chargers.

“The G-MAC is the most competitive field we have seen so far this season. I was happy with my performance,” Zitzmann said.

Junior Lucy Minning tied the 60-meter dash school record of 7.58 seconds, earning her sixth place in the preliminary race on Friday.

Freshman Allison Kuzma won the 5,000-meter race by 20 seconds with a time of 17:01.48, setting a personal best and a provisional qualifying time.

Dobrolowski placed second in the high jump with a mark of 2.05 meters and Haas won the weight throw with a mark of 20.98 meters. Sayles placed fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 17.80.

Senior Reese Dragovich placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:10.18. Humphrey placed second in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 9:59.16. Kuzma placed third in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 10:00.95. Humphrey won the mile with a time of 4:48.94 and junior Zealand Tarrant won the heptathlon 1,000-meter race with a time of 2:43.29. 

Senior Nicole Marshall placed fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.70.

“Leading up to G-MACs, our training was very technical and strategic, focused on exact pacing, race simulations, and frequent recovery,” Marshall said. “This will continue into the outdoor season in addition to a return to more volume and strenuous workouts.”

Senior Richie Johnston placed second in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 8:21.18.

“Every year this sport continues to improve and the G-MAC was no exception to that,” Johnston said. “I was very content with my race in all aspects and since it was the last race of my indoor career I’m happy to go out the way I did.”

In the field, Townsend won the pole vault with a mark of 3.98 meters. 

“I think the team put forth an excellent effort, but I believe we have even more potential for the outdoor season,” Marshall said.