Courtesy: Ashley Van Hoose
Men’s weight throw took the top three places at the Wide Track Classic in the Biermann Athletic Center Jan. 23, as the Hillsdale track and field team won seven events and placed second overall.
The men’s track and field team is now ranked 17th in the nation and the women’s team is eighth for NCAA Division II.
Senior and defending DII national weight throw champion Ben Haas reclaimed the top spot in national rankings and placed first with a mark of 21.65 meters. Sophomore Dominic Scharer and junior Dimitry Ermakov followed, hitting marks of 19.76 and 17.86 meters, respectively.
Scharer said despite battling illness earlier in the week, he was pleased with his performance.
“I hadn’t been feeling great all week, with a little bit of sickness, and a little bit of small, nagging injuries, but it was in the range of where I wanted to be,” Scharer said. “I was very happy with how it went.”
Sophomore Ally Kuzma hit the DII provisional qualifying mark in the 3K with a time of 9:48.68. She has now qualified to compete in both the 3K and the 5K at the DII Indoor Championships in March. Kuzma also placed third in the mile with a time of 5:05.32, followed by junior Savannah Fraley who came in sixth with a time of 5:20.33.
Kuzma said the meet was a chance for her to set a benchmark for the rest of the season.
“Our goal wasn’t really to have a full out race,” Kuzma said. “It was more to have a good standard for the conference. Obviously, it was a good effort, but it wasn’t an all out performance.”
Senior Lucy Minning placed first in the 60 and 200-meter dashes with times of 7.70 and 25.27. Senior Francesca Federici came in third at 26.04, and senior Anna Lamoreaux placed fourth with a time of 26.06.
In the men’s triple jump, senior Alfonso Garcia took first with a mark for 13.48 meters, followed by junior Christian Heinrichs, who came in third at 11.90 meters.
Women jumpers also performed well, with senior Erika Mogelvang taking third in the high jump and triple jump with marks of 1.59 and 10.68 meters. Sophomore Katie Kennedy closely followed her, placing fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 10.38 meters.
The Charger women won both throws events, with junior Amelia Lutz placing first in shot put with a throw of 15.41 meters, and Olivia Newsome taking weight throw with a mark of 18.58 meters.
Sophomore Yahli Salzman threw a personal record in shot put and placed third with a mark of 15.45 meters. Junior Jack Childress also threw a personal record 13.95 meters.
Salzman said he was glad he beat his record on home turf.
“I love throwing at home,” Salzman said. “It’s the people that I train with every day, it’s my friends being able to come, and people that I have in classes that are able to see the sport for the first time. I was really happy about where we were and that I was able to throw really far at home.”
The Chargers will compete in the Jet’s Pizza Invite at Saginaw Valley State University Jan. 30 and 31.
