Mid-Week Multi Meet
Courtesy | The Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale track and field team hosted the Mid-Week Multi for pentathlon and heptathlon athletes Dec. 3-4, and will compete in its first meet of the season Friday, Dec. 5 at the Grand Valley State University Holiday Invite in Allendale, Michigan.
Sophomore Baelyn Zitzmann won the Mid-Week Multi with a score of 3452 in the pentathlon, with sophomore Aubrie Wilson placing seventh with a score of 2921 and freshman Bristol Whitley scoring 2462 and placing 13 in her first-ever pentathlon.
“The first meet is always a good meet, because the whole team goes and we just get to see what we can do, because we have been working obviously all semester,” senior Tara Townsend said. “Friday is our first meet, and it is always really exciting.”
Jessica Bridenthal took over the head coaching position, as well as continuing to coach the throws events for the track and field program this year.
“She is super encouraging and really a great leader for us,” sophomore Sarah Chappelle said. “It has been affecting the culture so that everybody is very motivated and very excited to work and be dedicated.”
Senior Lucy Minning said this year’s training was the hardest she has seen in her four years in the program.
“This year we have done a lot of volume and a lot of speed endurance, and we have really picked it up in the weight room,” Minning said. “I feel like we are really being pushed, so that is exciting.”
The Chargers have numerous top national competitors, including senior Ben Haas, a two-time national champion in both outdoor hammer throw and indoor weight throw, and a national qualifier in both indoor and outdoor shot put. Haas aims to win titles in these events this season.
Other top competitors for Hillsdale include sophomore Allison Kuzma, an All-American in cross country after placing 13th in the nation in the women’s outdoor 10k in 2025. Kuzma has continued to train since her 2025 cross-country season.
“She has not stopped training, so she can still be peaked for this opening meet before she takes her rest,” Chappelle said. “She will be good to look out for.”
Senior Averi Parker, an All-American for women’s shotput, Townsend, an All-American for pole vault, and senior Ross Kuhn, an All-American for men’s outdoor 1,500, are also expected to perform well in the opening meet, according to their teammates.
“A lot of people could achieve national qualifying marks in this first meet, so that is going to be really exciting,” Minning said.
The Chargers’ team grew by 27 freshmen this season.
“They are really well driven, and they just want to come in the first meet and just tear heads off from every other school,” senior Alfonso Garcia said. “So super excited to see what they can do.”
Townsend agreed and said she was especially excited to watch the freshman in her event group perform.
“We got a ton of really talented freshmen this year across the board,” Townsend said. “For me specifically, I am excited to see what Sophia Williams can do. She is our freshman pole vaulter.”
Prior to Thanksgiving break, part of the track and field team held an intrasquad meet to prepare for their first meet against other institutions.
“We do not do real events,” Chappelle said. “We do modifications of real events. So instead of a 60-meter dash, we do a 55-meter dash, and instead of a 200 we do a 300, which we do not really compete in during the season. We change it up so that it does not mess with our mental state, so if you do not run the exact time that you were at during your peak last season, you are not discouraged.”
Minning said the team is looking forward to seeing the results of a semester of practice in an actual meet.
“It gets to a point when you’ve been training for so long, you’re like, ‘What am I doing this for?’” Minning said. “You do not see results at practice, you see them at the meet. So I think everyone is kind of dying to see what they can do.”
